The Bridge
by RealTears
Summary: The lives and adventures of Henry, Vicki, Mike after the end of The Winter Story.  Characters based on TV show Blood Ties and writings of Tanya Huff.
1. Chapter 1

_Previously:_

_Vicki didn't admit to loving anyone easily, but when she did, it was fiercely, with all her heart and soul. She loved two men, Mike Celluci, her partner and best friend for over ten years until her eyesight failed her and she had to leave a job that meant everything to her and Henry Fitzroy , a five hundred year old vampire that happened to be the bastard son of Henry the Eighth._

_The events of the past year had forever changed her life and her relationship with the two loves of her life. Because of an accident she was now vampire, and walked a fine line between her lovers until she realized that she needed to make changes so that Mike could have the family he craved and before territorial issues she and Henry apart._

_Discussions and compromises between the three left Mike with memories of his friendship with Vicki and Henry. He remembered Vicki's eyesight made her leave the force and that she'd met and worked with Henry. Later her vision started improving and her relationship with Henry involved more than just work. Henry's job required he leave Toronto and Vicki decided to go with him._

Vicki's small house was out in the country at the end of a lane with no outlet. After years of living in apartments in larger cities it was a big change, but Vicki found for the most part she liked the solitude. She had to admit it was an aggravation to have to drive into the city for her food and basic necessities, but being away from people made it much easier to deal with the added benefits of hearing and smelling being vampire gave her. The continuous pounding of beating hearts and the smell of warm blood assaulted her ears and nose if she remained in town for very long.

Vicki dropped the car keys on the kitchen table as she opened the refridge to get a bottled water. Opening the bottle as she wandered into the living area and turned on the TV. She let out a deep sigh and flopped down on the sofa for a few hours of mindless entertainment before locking herself into her bedroom for the day. She had a home based computer job to earn money but it didn't require much in the way of a mental challenge and she had to admit she was getting bored.

She flipped through the channels looking for something interesting to keep her mind busy when she felt her cell phone begin to vibrate. Pulling it out of her pocket she hit the connect button without looking at caller ID and heard him say, "The bridge in an hour."

Smiling, she ran to the bedroom and changed into the outfit she'd had ready for weeks.

Henry looked down at his work and grunted in satisfaction. He'd been doing some of his best work since moving away from Toronto and the chaos of the last two years. The story line was an adventure romance with a big dose of humor. The drawings flowed and captured the eye filling in the blanks so that words were not always needed. He loved his characters and sometimes found himself talking to them. He especially loved his female character and he knew she was patterned after Vicki both in words she said and her appearance. He missed having Vicki live with him. The year they had together after he turned her was not enough and if he had his way as a man they'd still be together, but the vampire in him wouldn't allow another vampire too close for too long so they lived apart.

He lifted his head, sniffed the air, looked out at the dark night. Knowing there were hours left before dawn he picked up his phone and made a call.

The main highway that tied the two big cities together had pulled the traffic away from the smaller two lane road and the century old bridge that spanned the river dividing the Provences.

Henry saw Vicki as she stood just left of the center of the bridge with her hands resting on the railing leaning forward looking down into the gorge and watched the slow moving water. The artist in him studied her in silence for several minutes so he could capture the image with paper and pen while his vampire accepted that she was not on its territory and remained calm. As he moved forward he called her name softly and gently not wanting to anger the vampire within her.

Vicki looked up, turned her head and smiled as he called her name. "Henry, it's good to see you."

He stopped and asked, "May I come closer?"

"It's a good night. Come as close as you want."

Henry continued walking until he was as close as he could get without actually touching and rested his hands on the railing spreading his fingers of the right hand so that the little finger crossed the imaginary line dividing their two territories. Vicki spread the fingers of her left hand and her little finger touch his.

They stood still for a few moments allowing the vampires to either accept what would happen next or force them to separate.

Henry's vampire remained quiescent and he moved his hand up Vicki's arm. Vicki gave a low growl and started to pull away. Henry kept his hand where it was but stopped all movement. Vicki closed her eyes and fought for dominance over her vampire and turned to face Henry. Smiling she stepped into his arms and placed her cheek next to his and whispered into his ear, "It's a good night. Don't waste it."

That was all he needed to hear. He picked her up and carried her to a sheltered place under his side of the bridge he'd prepared months ago for just the right moment. It was a dry lair with everything necessary to keep a vampire in comfort for the day.

Clothes were discarded, passionate kisses, caresses, and lusty love making were shared for what remained of the night and as dawn came they slipped into unconsciousness together under shelter during the light of day.

They opened their eyes at the same time and laughed before Vicki said, "I wonder how long they'll let us alone?"

Henry could feel the hunger rising within the vampires and knew soon their anger would follow. "Not too much longer, but long enough for us to make love again."

Vicki went back to her side of the bridge first and stood waiting for Henry. His eyes sparkled as he walked toward her and finally noticed she was wearing a dress. With a raised eyebrow he stated, "You don't wear dresses."

She looked down and smoothed out the skirt. "I thought it might be easier for you to get it off me in a hurry without it getting torn. I lost a lot of good jeans during the year we were together."

With a wry smile he said, "I appreciate the thought. I've always loved dresses on women."

Vicki asked, "So. Am I to take it '_The Bridge' _is going to be our code word for sex?"

"That and more. Anytime we need each other for any reason, we'll say those words and meet here. No matter what we're doing we stop and come here. No question, no argument."

"I'm thinking that sex is always the best reason."

"So do I, Vicki. So do I."


	2. Chapter 2

**Wounds of the flesh heal in time. Wounds of the heart take a lot longer.**

Vicki sat in front of her computer reading the headlines when the ringing of her cell broke into her concentration. Annoyed at the interruption, she snarled, "What?"

She heard the young pleasant voice say, "You're in a pretty mood. I bet seeing me will make you happy. Want to meet me at the bar?"

"Sorry, Charles. I can't."

"That's what you've said for the last three weeks. Are we or aren't we together?"

Vicki really liked Charles, a lot, and that's why she wasn't about to let her vampire near him again until he had enough time to recover from the last encounter. Charles' blood called to her vampire and Henry had warned her about the overpowering urge to feed too deeply and killing them.

Sighing Vicki said, "We are. I'll see you next week, promise."

"That's not good enough. Either come to the bar tonight or forget it. I'm not the type you can play with whenever you feel like it." Charles hit end call, and looked at his buddies. "See, I don't let her push me around. She'll come."

The guys had been ragging on him for weeks about the hottie he'd met and wanted him to put up or shut up. Giving in to their pressure he called and made his demand. Now he was sitting at the bar with his friends drinking heavily and taking their taunting. Finally he stood and said, "Well I guess I know where I stand in her life. No where. Let's find someplace else with better looking women."

Later that same night Vicki heard the sirens and identified both the sounds of police and fire rescue and shook her head as she noted the time. The bars had closed and the drunks were driving home. She wondered who hit what and went back to her reading.

A few nights later Henry looked down at his companion and watched his compulsion take effect. With eyes closed, chin tilted up and to the side, the neck was stretched inviting the bite that was about to come. Henry leaned in and took a deep breath savoring the scent of hot blood. He liked this part of being vampire, anticipating the taste of blood, waiting for just the right moment. Before the first bite, he felt the cell phone in his left hand pocket vibrate. Angry now, he took the bite and blood much faster than he would have liked. He waited long enough to give his companion the memory of a pleasant evening and a promise to call sometime before checking the text message from Vicki.

Henry approached the bridge with caution because the vampire within warned him that she was on the bridge with uncontrolled anger. He stood and watched as Vicki paced back and forth waving her arms, pounding on the railings and raging at injustice and the stupidity of men.

Vicki sensed the closeness of another vampire in her territory and attacked without thought.

Henry felt the clawed fingers wrap around his neck as his own hand instinctively wrapped around hers. Both squeezed and tore at tender flesh.

Henry's all black eyes and sharp fangs reflected in Vicki's all silver eyes. Breathing deeply they both knew with one unguarded move they would kill the other. The sire growled to its offspring and they relaxed their choking tearing grips on each others throat.

The black from Henry's eyes leached out as his fangs pulled back, "We don't want to do this, Vicki."

Vicki's gray green eyes and tentative smile agreed with him. "Count of three and let go."

He said, "One."

She said, "Two."

And together they said, "Three."

Their hands dropped away and Vicki stepped closer to lick the drops of blood from his throat as he licked the drops from hers. Quickly their wounds healed.

Henry held her loosely in his arms and waited for her to tell him what had happened and what she wanted from him.

"I found someone I cared about. He was funny, easy going, intelligent, and very very young. After the first time I fed from him I craved more and took more blood than I should have. He blood called to me all the time and I was afraid to see him too soon after the last time I fed from him. So when he told me to meet him at the bar, and because I take orders so well, I didn't go."

Breathing deeply, she stopped talking for a few minutes, pulled away from Henry's arms and placed her hands on the railing of the bridge to look out at the water tumbling over the rocks. "From what I learned later, he waited with his buddies drinking until he finally gave up and left. He was too drunk to drive but his buddies and the bar tender let him leave anyway. The local police officer that watched the bar was busy texting his girl and didn't see him leave."

Henry placed a comforting hand on her back as she continued. "It was near dawn and he was driving too fast. A herd of deer was in the road, he swerved, hit one deer and a second. From the pictures of accident it looks as though the impact drove a deer hoof threw his chest. He was dead at the scene."

Henry's hand moved slowly up and down her back as he whispered words of comfort. She accepted from him what she wouldn't accept from anyone else. The love they shared was stronger than their vampire instincts to keep a distance between them.

"What can I do?"

"What you always do best. Be here for me no matter what."

"Always. Anything else?"

"I need to get back in."

"Where?"

"I want to be on the force again. With all my advantages, I can do a superior job."

"What about our limitations? The biggest being daylight."

"Okay. You're right. But I'm working on it. I need the paperwork. References. I need you to help me with some minor adjustments to memories. I can do this. I know the job. I want to work here in my territory and even yours, if you'll let me."

"If you're sure."

"Yes. I'm sure. But I want to do it legally. I made an oath to 'protect and serve' and that's what I'm going to do."

"I thought you didn't like working the streets on a beat."

"Well that was then and this is now. I can work night shifts. I'll do the job keeping the streets safe and maybe keep idiots from killing themselves or others. Henry, I can do this without you, but it'll be easier and faster if you help. Plus, I've been bored out of my mind for the last several months."

"I'll help, if you let me play too. I was getting pretty good being your assistant."

"Henry this isn't a game and I don't intend to get into the freaky stuff again."

Henry started laughing and flashed his fangs, "Vicki, in case you hadn't noticed you and I are very freaky."

Vicki's eyes silvered and her fangs flashed back, "We're the good guys, Freaky. I'm counting on you being my partner. I work best when I have a partner."


	3. Chapter 3

After the conversation on the bridge, Henry helped Vicki create a back story that would give her the documents she needed to apply for a position on the local police force, and with the use of vampire persuasion she got a part time shift that fit her current lifestyle.

Vicki buttoned the uniform shirt, hooked on the dress tie and adjusted her utility belt before looking in the mirror to place the hat on her head.

She saw a confident, physically fit, capable officer of the law. She turned away from the mirror, closed the locker and went into the squad room for her first night as a beat cop in the small town she now called home.

The watch commander, Sargent Anderson, shook his head as she marched in and said, "Looking good Nelson, but I don't know why they're letting you start on nights so soon."

Vicki's eyes silvered as she said, "Sarge, it's in the file."

Sargent Anderson rubbed his forehead as he flipped through her file. "The day watch says you preformed well and recommends you start your sift immediately. Your assigned to car PD 3. Officer Bennett's already outside waiting for you. He'll be riding with you until I say otherwise." Vicki nodded and headed for the door as he added, "Don't let us being a small town fool you, we have all the same problems as the big cities. Keep your eyes and ears open."

Vicki closed her eyes and stopped before she made a sarcastic remark. She'd been on the job for ten years in Toronto both as a newly graduated beat cop and later a detective. One of the little things Henry hadn't mention about being vampire was that she looked years younger than she was and everyone around here thought of her as a newbie.

When she out outside she was pleased to see Office Bennett was standing on the passenger side of the car. She liked driving, a lot. The faster the better, with lights out, windows open using all her enhanced senses. Henry had shook in the seat of his precious BMW the first time she practiced driving that way. The majority of his long life span was spent before cars were invented and he still didn't trust them. Vicki on the other hand didn't trust horses. Tonight and from now on she'd have to drive following the laws. But someday she planned on having a fast car that she could drive the way she wanted.

Officer Bennett gave Vicki a grin as she opened the door, "Wow, Nelson. You look like you were made for the job."

Vicki slid behind the wheel, made the adjustments to mirrors, steering wheel and seat needed for a perfect fit then asked, "Did you do the check list?"

"Nope. You're behind the wheel. It's up to you."

Vicki shrugged, grabbed the clip board and went through the steps making sure everything on the car was in working order including lights, fluid levels, gas, and all emergency equipment. Bennett mentally checked it off with her and was impressed that she didn't miss a thing dashing his hopes that he would have lots of time working with her. He found he was attracted to her and longed to have her in his bed.

Vicki sensed his arousal and mentally groaned. Turning to face him with silvered eyes she spoke in the low tones of a vampire forcing their will. "_You're not interested in me. I'm not your type. You'll finish the week of orientation without finding fault with my work and tell Sargent Anderson I'm ready for solo assignments._"

Officer Bennett cleared his throat and said, "If the rest of the night goes the same way, you won't be needing me for long. Let's cruise around the town while I point out all the hot spots, trouble makers and give you some tips I've learned along the way."

Again Vicki kept her sarcastic remarks to herself and said, "Thanks. I'm sure you have lots to share."

Vicki liked Bennett and when he wasn't trying to impress his student, he wasn't all that bad. He took pride in the job and was giving her pointers that actually made some sense her second time around. She thought to herself perhaps she'd climbed the career ladder just a little too fast the first time and didn't pay enough attention to the value of a good beat cop. The right cop, in the right place, knew their town from the soles of their feet up and could keep the peace without using force.

Vicki heard a faint scream and pulled to the side of the road. Bennett asked, "What are you doing?"

Thinking fast, the vampire said, "_You heard a scream and told me to pull over."_

With the second scream, Bennett said, "There did you hear that this time. Someone's screaming."

Vicki took the lead and moved with vampire speed toward the screams and found a teenage girl trying to push an overly eager teenage boy back. She grabbed the boy by the back of his shirt and held him foot from the ground and snarled, "I don't think she wants to be groped, do you?" And gave him a little shake.

The boy said, "No ma'am. Could you please put me down?"

Vicki set him down and did a quick memory wipe of both teens correcting the image of a six foot boy being held in the air by a five foot eight inch woman.

Bennett came up behind them panting, "Damn, Vicki! You can run. Next time check the scene first."

She turned toward him and did a quick wipe of his memory too. She she gave herself a mental head slap and reminded herself use less speed and strength. Maybe she needed more vampire 101 lessons with Henry. The thought of more time with Henry gave her a rush of heat in all the right places. Vampire territorialism or not, she liked being near Henry.

After making sure the girl got home safely, Vicki gave the young man a short lecture on how to treat a young lady and an extra compulsion to be very sure of the girl's wishes before starting anything that would get either of them into trouble.

Her first six hour shift, 10 PM to 4 AM, ended with a few more warnings, speeding tickets, and breaking up fights. Back at the station Vicki completed the log book while Bennett wrote up the first night's evaluation of her performance. He snapped the folder shut and said, "Looks like you won't need much in the way of further training from me."

Vicki nodded in acknowledgment, "Thanks Bennett." And got out of the car.

As they walked into the station he asked, "Want to stop for breakfast before going home?"

Vicki sighed, "No thanks, I've got plans to meet a friend and tell him about the first night on the job."

Bennett shrugged, "Anyone special?"

Vicki gave Bennett a half smile and said, "He's very special."

Bennett said, "Well you can't fault a guy for trying."

"I don't. Good morning, Bennett. See you at ten tonight." She moved quickly and managed to leave the locker room before Bennett had finished talking with Sargent Anderson.

Anderson spotted her as she was leaving and called out, "Did you sign out?"

Vicki said, "Check the clipboard."

He looked down and saw her signature, "Okay, but next time say something."

"Sorry sir, I thought Bennett was reporting for both of us."

Vicki continued walking satisfied she'd made just enough of a newbie mistake that no one would get suspicious.

Henry Fitzroy stood on his side of the bridge watching the most beautiful woman in his life walk towards him with her head held high, a smile on her face and a bit of a swagger to her stride. She stopped at the halfway point and waited for him to move to the center.

She loved the way he looked with his hair touching the collar of his shirt and mischievous smile playing with his lips. He held out his hand to her and she placed hers just over his without touching.

Henry asked, "How was it?"

"Good. Old and new at the same time. I realized I need to tone down my advantages. How about a few more vampire lessons? "

"I've taught you all I know about being vampire. It's Vicki that has to learn how not to be Vicki."

Eyes silver and fangs dropping into place, she snarled, "What do you mean by that?"

His own vampire showed itself as he said, "You're the same person you were before the change. Aggressive, headstrong, opinionated, determined, honest, loyal, tenacious and never quit until you get to the truth. In other words all the characteristics needed to do the job you chose. Vicki, I love you just the way you are, but you're going to have think before you act."

"Thanks Fitzroy. It's not the first time I've had that lecture." She dropped her hand and started to turn away.

Henry lightly touched her shoulder and repeated, "I love you Vicki, just the way you are."

She stopped moving and placed her hand on top of his, "I know, Henry. I know. I thought controlling me was hard before, now it's even harder."

"It doesn't have to be. You don't have to prove anything to anyone any more. Do your job and trust others to do theirs. Use the vampire to your advantage without getting caught. And if you do get caught, make sure you do a thorough job of cleaning up the mess."

Both felt the pressure of the coming dawn at the same time and Vicki leaned back into him as he wrapped his arms around her waist. She stood quietly breathing in his scent before saying, "It's almost dawn."

He nuzzled the back of her neck as he brought his wrist to her mouth, together they bit at the same time and with no more than a quick taste they licked the wounds closed and went their separate ways.


	4. Chapter 4

**The Bridge**

**Chapter 4**

The last night of training Officer Josh Bennett had Vicki drive to the very edge of town directing her to follow a little used chip and seal road that led to an old farm house. "This here is Miss Ophelia Drew's place."

"What are we doing out here?"

"She refuses to move closer to town or have someone live with her. Once or twice a week, one of us drives out here, checks the place out and make sure she's okay."

"Why are we here at this time of night?"

"That's the odd part. She doesn't want any of us around during the day '_spying' _on her. Says she sleeps best during the day and we make too much noise when we rattle around checking doors, windows and all that. So she called the mayor and made an agreement, we come out here after midnight share a cup of tea and make sure she has everything she needs ."

"Okay, I can relate to sleeping better during the day."

"Figured you would seeing you like night shift. The chief decided since your the force's resident night owl, you should have the honor and privilege of checking on Miss Drew from now on. I'm to introduce you tonight and then she's all yours."

Vicki shrugged in agreement as they both got out of the car.

Bennett opened the trunk reached in and pulled out a small box. Looking at the box he added, "We deliver her supplies. She doesn't go into town anymore and when she was talking to the mayor she asked that her stuff be dropped off by us."

"How does she manage to get so much service?"

Bennett got a big grin and said, "She was everyone's favorite teacher for almost sixty five years. Anyone that was lucky enough to had as a teacher her never forgot her. If she asks for help, the major jumps and offers us up."

"Did you have her?"

"Nah. But my mom and dad did. They said I was to respect her and help her or else."

Josh Bennett rapped gently on the door and called out, "Miss Drew, it's me Josh."

A raspy voice coming from above called out, "Come in and put the groceries on the kitchen table. I'll be down in a minute."

Vicki followed Bennett through the back door of the farm house through the mud room and into a kitchen that was old fashioned in the fifties. The stove and refrigerator gleamed as though they just came off the show room floor and everything about the room was spotless. Vicki thought of it as a time capsule and wondered if the rest of the house was the same way.

She turned toward the sound of steady but slow foot steps and waited for the door to the rest of the house to open. As it was being pushed in, Vicki felt the presence of another of her kind and the vampire within made ready to attack. Vicki fought down the instinct and set a pleasant smile in it's place. The door hesitated a moment before completing the swing and revealed an elderly, white haired woman standing straight. Penetrating blue eyes skimmed over Bennett and locked onto Vicki's gray green eyes.

The raspy voice asked, "You would be?"

Josh Bennett cleared his throat and said, "This is Officer Vicki Nelson, she's new to the town and the force. Since she'll be working nights, the mayor and the chief thought she should be the one to visit you from now on."

Miss Drew tilted her head to the side and continued to study Vicki closely before saying, "Josh Bennett you go outside and sit in the car. I'd rather speak with Officer Nelson alone."

"You're sure?"

"Of course. Obviously you trust her, why should there be any problem with me talking with her in private?"

Bennett shrugged said, "Yes, Miss Drew," and left.

Vicki stood quietly during the exchange between Miss Drew and Bennett and on further study, Vicki's vampire accepted whatever Miss Drew was, as neither a threat nor challenge.

Miss Drew said, "I know what you are but I don't know why you're here."

Vicki answered, "You're ahead of me, because I don't know what you are."

Miss Drew walked over to a kitchen chair and sat down. " We need to talk but it's not wise to do so with Josh sitting in the car. When can you come back?"

"It's too close to dawn by the time I'm off duty to come out here. So how about my next night off?"

Miss Drew nodded in understanding, "As I get older I have to keep the same hours you do. Come when you can. Safe passage is offered."

Henry had told Vicki some of the older vampires used that phrase when agreeing not to attack each other and replied, "Safe passage is accepted and offered in return."

Vicki asked if she need help to put away the groceries and was waved off with a tired, "Go do your job."

Vicki stood at the top of the rise looking down into the valley and the river that divided Henry's territory from hers as he stood on the opposite ridge sharing the same fall scents of dry leaves, aged wood fires, and pine that filled the cool night breeze. Down below the bright October moon reflected off the old iron bridge that spanned the river dividing their territories. The bridge was seldom used and there were arguments between the towns on both sides of the river as to what should be done about it. People argued, '_It's an eye sore, it has historical merit, it's a safety hazard, it's an architectural wonder.'_ But for Vicki it was a haven where she could share romance with her Henry. For it was at the bridge their bond was the strongest. There they could love as man and woman while, if they were lucky, the vampires that shared their bodies left them alone.

Looking up and across the valley at the same time, each pointed to the bridge below and nodded. Meeting at the center and holding out hands they let their fingers touch and waited. Vampire anger and hunger rose up and fangs dropped into place as eyes changed from blue to black and gray green to silver. Neither moved or spoke as the vampires came to terms with the fact their weaker human natures needed to be with each other and backed off.

Vicki spoke first, "Are they ever going to accept that we're in control?"

Henry laughed, "Not likely."

"Crap."

"There's two of you existing in the same body, the vampire and Vicki. Together they have to decide who gets to play. So who's going to win tonight?"

"Both."

He tilted his neck to the side and said, "My turn next time."

Just before biting Vicki said, "Good."

All of the erotic feelings a vampire can evoke roiled up and what was left of their humanity savored the benefits of enhanced vampire prowess. Though the physical contact was brief, both were left knowing that together their shared love would last an eternity.

Straightening clothes and licking away the last drop of blood, Vicki asked, "Have you sensed another vampire in either of our territories?"

Henry's hand touched the place on his neck where Vicki had fed and felt the welts fade under his finger tips. "How can you do that?"

"What?"

"Switch from romance to business so fast."

Vicki looked puzzled for a minute before repeating her initial question. And he asked in turn, "No. Should I?"

"I'm not sure."

The prickly feeling on the back of their necks nudged both vampires into action and they turned as one toward their own sides of the bridge. Stopping and turning back to wave, Vicki called out, "Who says I can't multitask? I'll call you as soon as I get home."

He yelled back, "Good. You've got my attention."

Henry's home reflected his good taste in furnishings, art, and color creating the image of a young sophisticated gentleman of means. With a quick bow toward the portrait of his father that was always a part of his decor he moved through the house to the room where he spent his days. With the door secured from the inside, he quickly undressed and slipped between the cool silk sheets and waited for his phone to ring.

Vicki's home was comfortably cluttered with mismatched furniture and odd bits and pieces that she had found in second hand stores. She liked looking at them and trying to figure out their stories. Picking up the polished crystal she turned it over and over wondering where it had originally formed, who polished it and what secrets had been whispered over it. Putting it back on the table she headed into her room and sealed the door before stripping down and crawled into bed and pulled the down comforter to her chin. She grabbed her cell phone hit the first number on her speed dial and heard him ask, "Are you going to tell me what's going on?"

"Love you too, Henry."

He laughed and said, "I never doubt it. And yes, you're loved. So, tell me."

"Tonight was my last night of orientation and the last thing Bennett did was have me drive to the edge of town to check on a senior citizen by the name of Ophelia Drew."

"And?"

"The name doesn't mean anything to you?"

"No. Should it?"

"Not necessarily. Covering bases."

"Are you back to detective mode?"

"Yep and whatever's going on is going to effect you too."

"Dawn's almost here, for God's sake spit it out."

"She knew what I was even before she saw me and I wanted to rip out her throat before getting my vamp under control."

"So she's vampire?"

"No. At least I don't think so. She's old Henry. Really, really old."

"What do you need from me?"

"I'd like you to be available when I go see her."

"Of course. Would you like me to drive you?"

Irritated Vicki snapped, "I'm capable of driving myself."

"I'd rather drive. Your driving skills leaves much to be desired."

"I'm getting better. No dings or scrapes on the squad car can be blamed on me. At least not yet."

"Besides you don't have a car and I'm not trusting you with my 'baby' again."

"I'm getting a car by the end of the week."

Henry started in on what safety features, performance, style, color she needed before she could stop him. "Fitzroy! I've got it. I'm a young vampire, not a teenage human. I've had cars before. Be ready to be my back up if I need you Sunday night."

"I'll be available."

"Rest well."

"You too."

Both pushed end call and let the day take their lives.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

"Hey Nelson what did you do to Miss Drew?"

Vicki turned away from the door to the locker room and faced the desk sargent, "Nothing. Why?"

"She's called three times on day watch and twice so far wanting to speak with you. The chief left a note saying you're to call her immediately and if necessary, go out to her place before starting the rest of your watch."

The phone started ringing and Sargent Anderson held out the desk phone. Before Vicki could reach for it she could hear Miss Drew's voice on the other end, "Officer Nelson? Is that you? I need you right now!"

Vicki took the receiver and spoke with a touch of vampire power, "Take it easy Miss Drew."

She heard few rapid breaths then Miss Drew's reply, "Good. I was afraid you weren't real. Please, please come now. I can't wait until your next night off."

"I'll be there within the hour."

"Thank you, thank you."

Placing the hand set back in the cradle Sargent Anderson asked, "Care to tell me what's got her wound up?"

"I can't say until I speak with her. We got on well enough last night when Bennett introduced us."

"Bennett said you spoke with her alone."

"She wanted to ask me to come over my next night off."

"Go get ready for duty. I'm having second watch stay over until you finish up at the Drew house."

Vicki went on into the locker room and quickly changed from her street clothes into her uniform. On her way to the squad car she sent Henry a text message to meet her at the bridge after her shift.

Pulling up to Miss Drew's house Vicki noted that there were lights only in the kitchen area and before she could put the car in park the side door opened and Miss Drew waved for her to hurry.

As Vicki got out of the car she could hear Miss Drew raspy voice, "Come in. Come in." Then watched her turn around and head back into the house.

By the time she reached the door Miss Drew was sitting at the kitchen table breathing through pursed lips. In only one day her cheeks had sunken in and the cords of her neck stood out. Her skin was parchment thin and transparent. Pale blue veins stood out on the backs of her hands that she pressed under her chin. The spry lady that Vicki had seen last night looked like she aged twenty years.

Miss Drew looked Vicki in the eyes and said, "You are a vampire."

For a moment Vicki thought to deny it, but nodded yes.

"Thank God. You're my last hope." Before Vicki could reply Miss Drew held up her hand for silence then indicated that Vicki should sit.

"I'm dying and I need some answers."

"Answers to what?"

"I've been living half a life for decades stuck between human and vampire."

Vicki held out her wrist offering blood. Ophelia waved her off. "No I don't want your blood. It's too late for me to be vampire. I've aged, I'm tired, but I don't want to die without knowing why it all ended up like this." She started coughing and pointed to the sink.

Vicki stood to get a glass of water and while she was at it she got one for herself.

Setting the glass down in front of Miss Drew she waited to see if the old woman need help with the glass. "Sit down Officer Nelson, I'm not dead yet."

Vicki gave her a half smile and said, "Call me Vicki. I don't think this conversation's going to fall under official business."

"Andre' had a sense of humor too. I loved him and he loved me. It's because of him, I'm the way I am. But I'm getting ahead of my self. You need the beginning to understand."

_Ophelia was born in 1868 and in 1886 she started teaching. In those days teachers weren't allowed to marry which didn't bother Miss Drew in the slightest. She loved teaching and was very happy with her choices. In 1906 she decided that she owed it to herself to see more of Canada and went to visit Montreal. It was there that fate took a hand in her quiet steady life and she met Andre' Renault, a tall handsome man with old world European manors that flattered Miss Drew beyond her imagination. She resigned her teaching post and moved to Montreal to be near the man she loved. He was illusive, only visiting her occasionally but passionately. All those things that Miss Drew had turned away from came back with a vengeance. She wanted a home, a man and above all a family. Andre' tried to dissuade her from those ideas but he himself had fallen in love with her and spent as much time with her as he could. Finally he revealed the truth about himself and tried to explain why being together was impossible, but she accepted him for what he was and the life he had to live. She asked to join him in his world and he agreed. He explained that he wanted to turn her slowly and that it would be better to space the blood exchange over several days. The first night she took his blood was a magical moment that was etched in her memory. That was also the last time she ever saw or heard from him. She spent months trying to trace his whereabouts. But she didn't know where he spent his days or who any of his friends might be. When she took the time to think about it all she knew of him was what he told her during the evenings they were together. There wasn't even enough information go to the police and what could she tell them? Her vampire lover was missing? She continued teaching in Montreal hoping that he might come back. Years passed and she noticed that she wasn't aging. Finally she had to move or explain herself. After that she moved from place to place every ten or twenty years depending on how fast or slow the passage of time began to show on her face. This was her last move. Time caught up to her and she'd lost hope of ever seeing another vampire until Vicki crossed her threshold the night before._

"Were there any other changes?"

"Not at first. I don't drink blood if that's what you mean. Until a few decades ago, daylight didn't bother me, but about the same time I felt the effects of day I also started craving raw meat. It's not easy hiding that when living near others, plus I was tired of the way people smelled and listening to their hearts beat. As time went by more and more the traits of vampire showed up in my life, but fortunately no fangs and no blood lust."

"What do you want from me, if you don't want to complete the turning?"

"I want to know what happened to Andre'. He wouldn't have left me like that. Not after all that we meant to each other. Just knowing you exist gives me some measure of peace, now if I could only find out what happened to him, I'd die content if not happy."

Vicki felt her pocket vibrate and she held up a finger and pulled out her phone. "Excuse me. I have to take this."

Sargent Anderson asked, "What's going on? How much longer are you going to be?"

"Nothing serious. I'm about finished up. I'll start rounds from here and work back to the station."

"Good enough."

Vicki turned back to Miss Drew who was breathing a bit easier now that she'd told her story. "I'm going to have to give a report when I get back to the station."

Fluttering her hands Miss Drew said, "Not the truth."

"No. I'll make up something about female problems that you felt you could talk to me about. Not to worry, I've been know to spin a good yarn or two."

"Will you help me find Andre'? Do you know of him?"

"I'm not that old in this life, but the one that turned me is."

"Are you still close to your sire? Andre' said because of territorial issues it wasn't likely the one turned and the sire could remain together after few years."

"So far we've been lucky. He'll help if I ask. But I'm going to have to tell him the full story. He may even need to come and speak with you."

"That's fine. Just hurry. I don't know how much longer I have."

Vicki looked at the tired old woman, "You're not getting enough rest."

"I'm afraid to sleep. Afraid I'll never wake up again. I need answers before I can rest."

Vicki's eyes turned silver and used her vampire skills to convince Miss Drew to go on up to bed. As Ophelia made ready to sleep Vicki checked and secured the house before going to side of Ophelia's bed. Vicki took the old woman's wrist and with a delicate bite opened a vein taking just enough blood to form a link and give her a dream of Andre' that would keep her sleeping until very late in the day.

Vicki finished her watch giving out a few traffic tickets, sending a drunk on his way in a cab, and chasing a few teenagers home after a late movie got out. All in all a quiet night in a small town with good people wasn't a bad thing. Vicki even managed to get in a quick snack during her break.

Her report on Miss Drew left the chief with the feeling they were going to lose her to old age in the near future. She was wearing out and all the fuss yesterday was that she wanted to know for a fact that there was really a female officer and that she'd be the one to visit from now on. Miss Drew wanted some female company but otherwise she wanted to be left alone.

When she got to bridgeVicki saw Henry pacing back and forth near the center muttering to himself and moving his arms as though he were fencing. She continued watching for a few moments more before asking, "Working on a plot?"

He stopped and laughed, "Yes. I can't get the dialog and the action sequence to make sense. Want to help me work it out."

"I'd love to but I need your help first."

Henry made a graceful bow and said, "Always at your service M'lady."

"Period piece?"

"Yes. May even do it as a graphic novel historical romance. Would you like to be my model?"

Vicki moved closer to him and said, "For the price of a kiss, I'll consider it."

He took her into his arms kissed her once then bent her back and kissed her a second time using all of his considerable skill.

"Those kisses get you a nude model." She pushed on his chest gently so that she could straighten back up. "Seriously. I need to talk with you and were running out of night."

"If you didn't have a 'real' job we could have more time together."

"I like working."

"We can spend the day under the bridge and talk until dawn."

"Your vampire's in an agreeable mood."

"I fed well earlier. Why's yours so passive?"

"It knows I need to be with my sire."

Prince Henry bowed to his lady, pulled her into his arms and together they entered his secret lair.


	6. Chapter 6

The Bridge Chapter 6

Ophelia lay quietly in her bed trying to hold on to the dream as long as possible, but it faded away as the afternoon sun filtered through the drawn curtains pulling her back into reality. With a heavy sigh she slowly sat up and moved her feet to the edge of the bed and let them drop to the floor. She stopped to let her body get used to the idea she was going to have to stand up. The usual sense of aches, pains and weariness were absent and thanks to the events of the last two nights she felt lighter, younger and she had a feeling of hope for the first time years. Finally she could talk to someone about Andre' and if she were very lucky, she'd get some answers. Getting up she walked into the bathroom and looked at herself in the mirror and saw the same old face she'd seen for years, but this time it didn't look as tired. A good sleep really did improve how a person looked and felt. She turned away from the mirror and mentally thanked Vicki Nelson as she took care of business.

Vicki sat up and drew in the first breath of the night. The vampire within let her know it was hungry and not too happy that the smell of another vampire lingered on her body. Vicki'd gotten into the habit of talking out loud to the monster within and said, "Get over it. Henry's a part of my life."

Vicki was determined to overcome the natural territorialism that drove vampires apart a year or so after turning. Thanks to the same determination on Henry's part they were still able to spend time together two years after her year of change. It wasn't easy and it wasn't always pretty, but the special moments they spent in each others arms was worth the vampire temper tantrums.

Continuing to talk aloud she said, "Vampire, I like the advantages you've given me, but sometimes your attitude is a pain in the ass. You came from Henry so why won't you give in and quit fighting him?" The vampire gave her another twinge of hunger.

Vicki rubbed her midriff and muttered, "All right. You win. I'll feed first then pick up my car and meet Henry at the bridge." She added, "Don't go snarling at him either. He's helping me with Ophelia."

She left her little house grousing about talking to herself again.

Before going hunting, Henry made a few phone calls trying to get a lead on Andre' Renault. Years before a family that had served a particularly honorable vampire helped formed an alliance that allowed vampires to have communication and peaceful coexistence between territories as long as they followed a few basic rules. Henry was a member of the alliance and his friend Augustus was the current holder of the records and agreed to take a look and he also gave Henry the name and number of the vampire claiming Montreal.

Claude Dubek in Montreal didn't have any useful information but gave Henry permission to come into his territory and do some research as long as he hunted discretely and didn't call attention to the existence of vampires.

While Vicki walked to the dealership where she was to pick up her car she placed a call to Henry. "Would you like to meet me at the Bridge in an hour to see the car?"

"I was hoping you'd ask."

"Before you go off on what you think I need in a car, understand I've already picked it out."

"Then what do you want from me."

"I'm giving you credit for knowing what's needed with maintenance. I'd like you to help me with that."

"Fine."

Henry met Vicki at the bridge and stared at her with a raised eyebrow. "You got a used car? What were you thinking?"

"Calm down. I've been having dealerships on the look out for a car like this for months."

Henry walked around the car, opened the hood, checked the tires, examined the interior, then asked if he could test drive it.

Hesitating before dropping her keys in his outstretched hand, she mentally bitch slapped her inner vampire for being so possessive of a car she's had for all of fifteen minutes, "Yes, but make it quick. I need to be at work soon."

Henry drove the over the bridge into his territory opening it up on a back road with tight curves. He appreciated the solid feel of the car, it's weight and deep purr of the V8 engine. This was not a luxury vehicle but a work horse meant to get the job done.

Henry turned around and headed back to her side of the bridge stopping just in front of where she stood.

He held the keys out and laughed as she snatched them from his hand and held them close to her chest like a child getting a beloved, lost doll back. "I should have known what kind of car you'd get. The only kind you'd want. Honestly Vicki, was it necessary?"

Vicki patted the warm hood and said, "Yes. Are you going to say it or shall I?"

"If I must." Henry closed his eyes, took a deep breath, opened them and tapped the hood, "I name this _Crown Victoria_ as a proper carriage for Prince Henry's vampire daughter."

"This make and model has been the standard for police forces in the United States and Canada for decades. It's got a lot of life left in it and with the kind of car maintenance you insist on, it should last me a long time." Vicki proceeded to list the enhancements and modifications required by police that remained on the car.

"Does it still have the flashing lights and sirens?"

"Nope."

"Pity." And shook his head in regret, finding that he had liked playing with Mike Celluci's cop car in the past. Changing the subject he said, "Vicki, we need to go to Montreal if we're going to find answers for Miss Drew."

"Is the territory occupied?"

"Yes and I've already secured permission for us to be there for a period of time."

"I've only been on the job a month so you'll have to go without me."

"I'd rather not but if necessary, I will."

"It's necessary."

"All right, but I should talk with Miss Drew before I leave. She may remember more than what she's told you so far."

"Good enough. I'll call you before sunrise with the date and time we can meet up with her."

"That's fine. I've got to find some dinner and make arrangements to postpone a deadline for a month or two."

"I'm sorry if helping me is messing up with your work."

"Not to worry. I've found helping you with cases has added spark to my otherwise dull existance."

"Knock it off buster. I'll have you know, my life was normal until I met you."

He said, "Then thank God we met." And leaned in kissing her forehead as the vampire in her forced her to take a step back.

She patted his cheek as his eyes flashed black and fangs dropped into place, "Go feed before your vampire takes my head off."

Vicki saw the swing shift officer walking back into the station as she pulled into the lot. He stopped and watched her get out of the car and called out, "Look at that! A decommissioned CVPI (**Crown Victoria Police Interceptor**). The queen of the night got crowned."

Vicki's eyes slivered at the presumed threat of exposure. Turning away to gain mastery over the vampire, Vicki gave the car door a push shut and called out, "Don't forget who doesn't have to work nights because I happen to like this shift. I could always change my mind."

The officer held the door open and bowed, "Thanks to you Victoria, my girl friend's a lot easier to get along with now I don't have to work nights."

Shaking her head at the name she hated she said, "Call me Vicki or Nelson," and kept walking before the vampire took a bite.

Laughing, he added, "Can I play with your lights and sirens."

She snapped over her shoulder, "No!"

She changed into uniform, signed in and settled down for a routine, happily boring shift. During her break she called and made arrangements for herself and Henry to meet with Miss Drew at her home just after midnight the following night.

Miss Drew stood at the side door waiting for Vicki and Henry. She'd put on her favorite dress, set the kitchen table for tea and tried hard not to lose control of herself. But after years of pushing down emotions they were coming to the surface and it was hard not to think too much, feel too much, or to hope too much. She wanted to know what happened to Andre' and why, but she was afraid to hope.

She saw the headlights as the car turned into her driveway and stepped back into the house to wait for the knock on the door.

Henry got out of the car and took a deep breath before walking around to open Vicki's door.

She asked him, "Do you sense it?"

"No. If I sense something when I meet her, I'll touch your back."

Vicki walked to the door with Henry close behind as it opened. Miss Drew stood in the open door way back lit by soft light. She had on a day dress from early 1900's with a Gibson girl hair style. She stepped back and invited Vicki and Henry in.

Vicki looked to Henry as he placed his hand firmly in the small of her back to guide her forward.

In a soft voice Vicki said, "Miss Drew, my I present Mr. Henry Fitzroy. Henry, this is Miss Ophelia Drew and she wishes to speak with you about matters of grave concern."

Henry made a courtly bow over the hand Miss Drew held out, "It is an honor to meet with you Miss Drew and I offer my services."

Ophelia smiled and nodded her head, "Any assistance will be greatly appreciated. But let's get out of the Edwardian period and relax. I dressed like this so that you'd get an idea of what I was like when I last saw Andre'."

Henry made a second bow, "As you wish, but I, for one, having lived it, can honestly say that you represent the best of the period both in looks and deportment. Thank you for taking me back to a gentler time."

Ophelia laughed and said to Vicki, "He's a keeper."

Vicki looked from one to the other, "Twenty first century. Good. I'm not up on Edwardian etiquette. And yes, I know he's a keeper."

They sat at the kitchen table, sipping the offered tea and Henry listened to Ophelia's story. He asked questions about the area in which she lived at the time she knew Andre' and asked specific details about his habits including how often he fed and how and where he bit her. He even asked about how Andre' offered his blood for her to drink.

Vicki kept quiet since she'd heard much of the story before, and found Henry's approach to the issue fascinating.

When the questioning stopped Ophelia said, "Henry, seeing and talking to you makes me realize I wasn't crazy to love Andre'. Even if I never find out what happened to him, it's enough to know that someone knows my story and understands."

Henry looked to Vicki and said, "Vicki never gives up on a case no matter where it leads and she's very good at dragging me along. It may take time, but we'll keep looking."

Shortly thereafter they made their good byes and Vicki promised to check in once a week following the pattern as previously set by the police chief and mayor.

As they walked to the car, Vicki handed Henry the keys to the CVPI. He raised an eyebrow in question but accepted them. "Where are we going, your place, my place, or under the bridge?"

"Under the bridge. I need you and I don't need the vampires fighting over territory."

"Then why am I driving."

"I'm teaching 'Fang girl' how to share."

Their love making was gentle and very tender that night. Both were seeking comfort from the other for their mutual losses, her human future and the loves from his past that needed to be mourned.

Vicki was on her side with her arm across his chest while he laid on his back with his arms under his head. She fingered the soft reddish gold hairs on his chest and said, "I feel so sorry for Miss Drew. I hope we can find out what happened to Andre'."

He took one hand out from under his head and placed it on top of Vicki's pressing her hand over his heart. "We will."

"How can you be so sure?"

Pressing her hand down he said, "I feel it in here."

Before she could respond the vampire's anger rose and she found herself standing next to the way out of the shelter and Henry was crouched in the farthest corner.

She snarled, "That's it. I'm out of here."

He pointed to her clothes, "You better dress first Officer Nelson."

She started muttering to herself as she dressed.

Henry snatched up his own clothes and snarled back, "What are you saying?"

She relaxed and started laughing, "I'm thanking vampire."

He raised his eyebrow in question. "For what?"

"The time it gave us tonight. It's trying so hard."

"Trust me, it's a _thing_."

"If you say so. But I'm thanking it anyway."

He held up his hand for her to wait, "Andre' loved Ophelia and he didn't leave her on purpose."

"Why do you say that?"

"The answers Ophelia gave me about his habits, how she learned he was vampire, and how he went about teaching her before starting the turn."

Vicki's eyes widened as it dawned on her just what he was saying. Vampires are paranoid, secretive, and above all else avoid letting anyone know of their existance. Henry trusted her and shared all of himself with her from the very beginning.

He saw the look on her face and said, "I could've erased your memory if necessary."

"No you couldn't. Your powers never worked on me and you knew it from that first encounter in the bar. Why Henry?"

"A vampire doesn't turn it's back on true love without regretting it for all the rest of its nights. I've lived with too many regrets to turn my back on you too."

"Then you understand why I'm going to beat what's in me into submission even if it kills me."

"Yes and mine's getting a few bruises of its own."

She turned to let herself out of the shelter and asked, " Will I see you again before you leave for Montreal?"

"Of course. I'll call you when the plans are set and we'll meet here at the bridge."


	7. Chapter 7

Ophelia let her hand drop and turned her back to the car leaving her driveway. Sometime during her long life she'd heard it was bad luck to watch a vehicle until it was out of sight and she needed all the luck she could get. Officer Vicki Nelson and her friend Henry Fitzroy were her only hope to find out what happened to her lover Andre' Renault. They'd sat at her table pretending to sip tea while they listened to her story and said they believed her and promised to help her find the answers she needed to be able to die in peace. After over a hundred and fifty years of life, her years were drawing to a close. Up until the last few she worked as a teacher moving from town to town whenever people began to notice she wasn't aging. Her last move found her living in an old farmhouse at the edge of a small town where the residents came to love their eccentric aging teacher. She taught history, home economics and English depending on the need of the school at any given time. The last few years of teaching she was a substitute and students loved to get her to talking. She'd tell them stories about the turn of the last century before cars, phones, planes, radio and television that fascinated their imaginations. For some, it may have seemed a waste of time for a teacher to wander away from the lesson plan but the youth caught up in her ramblings would argue otherwise and the school board kept her on long after she should have retired.

Ophelia picked up the tea cups and placed them in the sink intending to wash them later because she needed to lay down and rest. The one of the things about Vicki's visits was that she was very tired afterward and her dreams were about Andre' and the few years they had shared until the night he left and never back. She made ready for bed and as she put her head back against the pillow she rubbed her wrist over her lips feeling the almost invisible scars left by Andre's bites. The thoughts of her lips pressed against the open wound over his heart, the taste of salty metallic blood and the warm rush of lust for her vampire lulled her to sleep.

Vicki was on her way out the door when her cell vibrated and she checked for messages. '_BRIDGE_' was the only new one.

She sent back: _1HR. _ She'd get a bite of dinner first so that the vampire within would let her enjoy seeing Henry.

Henry paced the length of the bridge several times before he finally heard Vicki's car in the distance. He moved back to his side and waited for her to meet him in the center.

Before she could come closer he held up his hand to stop and said, "There's not enough time."

Her eyes silvered as the vampire's anger rose. He moved closer, "Pull it back. Don't let it's anger waste what time we do have."

Vicki looked down for a moment and when she looked up he saw his beautiful Vicki and he explained, "It'll take at least five hours for the trip to Montreal and I'd like to get the driving and finding a convenient place to stay done in one night."

"Why the rush?"

"Ophelia's fading fast and I'd like to get her some answers before she's gone."

She started to turn away saying, "Okay. Call me when you get back."

"That's it?"

"What else is there to say? Good bye, take care of yourself, call when you can?"

"That's part of it."

She didn't like thinking about her childhood, but sometimes in came back with a vengeance, her father walking out of her life left a big hole in her heart. She tilted her head to the side, "Ophelia's not the only one to have a man walk out and never come back."

"Someday Vicki Nelson, you're going to learn to trust me." He growled deep in his throat moved to her side of the bridge and took her into his arms. "I'll be back within the week and I promise to call before dawn every day."

She nodded and gave him a kiss that promised a warm welcome when he got home then gently pushed him back. "If you don't leave this minute, you'll have to go tomorrow night and I'm going to miss work."

He whispered, "I love you Vicki. Don't do anything stupid." Turned and walked to his car.

She laughed at his retreating back, "Hey! I haven't done anything 'stupid' for months now."

He shook his head and lifted his hand but she'd already turned away so she wouldn't have to see him leave. Somewhere along the line she'd heard it was bad luck to watch someone until they were out of sight. Her luck finally changed for the better after Henry had given her his blood and she wasn't going to do anything to mess it up.

Her shift had ended hours ago and she'd been able to get in another nice meal before getting ready for bed. The doors and windows to her little house were locked and her inner room secured. She'd just pulled the comforter under her chin when her cell started playing "Greensleeves". She picked it up and said, "Hi Henry."

"Do I want to know the ring tone you use for me?"

"Nope. How was the drive and where are you staying?"

"Uneventful and near the Place Ville Marie." He gave her his room number and a general idea of where he'd be doing his research for the next few days. "It might change based on any leads I find, but I'll try and keep you up to date."

"You seem to have things under control."

"I've done lots of research for my writing and you've been a good teacher, Detective Nelson."

She smiled in the darkness pleased that he appreciated her skills. "Thanks Henry. Good luck with your hunting. Both food and information."

She could see his smile in her mind as he said, "Rest well." Then broke the connection and let dawn claim her body for the day.

Henry met Claude at Place Jacques-Cartier the second night it Montreal confirming his intent to do research into Ophelia's problem and then leave as soon as possible. Claude offered his assistance but was turned down. Henry's vampire was more irritable than usual and the close proximity of another of his kind was intolerable but Claude, for his part didn't appear distressed by Henry's presence.

Henry sat in the darkest corner of the library behind a stack of old books the librarian's assistant continued to carry over. Hoping to have Henry come back, the assistant said, "The microfiche machine is in use. You'll have to sign up to use it tomorrow."

Henry looked up from the pages he was scanning, "Thank you. I'll do that before I leave." He returned to his books. The young assistant appreciated Henry's college student appearance kept finding excuses to come back. He was aware of her interest and decided before he 'left' when the doors closed for the night, she'd make a nice snack.

He'd found diaries and family records from the period that Ophelia lived and taught outside Montreal and hoped there might be some news paper articles about her teaching years. From Vicki he'd learned to follow threads of information and connect dots where there didn't appear to be any relationships. He lived history, she studied history and together they knew how to dig out long buried facts.

Licking the last drop of blood from the assistant's long white neck Henry reinforced her memory of a stolen kiss, a quick groping and a rush of romantic heat that left the assistant wanting to find her current boyfriend.

As Henry faded into the darkest corner of the library the assistant straightened her closes and placed the romance novel back on the shelf whispering, "That writer knows how to create a hot love scene. I'm going to have to read more of her books." Henry had to keep from laughing out loud when he saw the title of book from one of his earlier incarnations as a romance writer.

Soon the library was empty and all the lights but emergency exit signs were turned off. Henry went to the microfiche and found the news papers for the period of time he was interested. His eyes scanned the information as it flew by. Suddenly he hit stop when he found a reference to the odd and unusual. Further on he found similar stories written as an assignment given to high school students and published in the paper. Henry's eye caught a story that had him thinking outside the box. He jotted down the name of the characters the dates and where the _true_ story was supposed to have happened.

Henry put everything away and made sure that there was nothing left to indicate that he'd ever been there and made his way out of the building. Because there wasn't enough time to check out the site of the alleged incident before dawn, he headed back to his room to plan his next course of action.

Vicki mumbled under her breath as she cleaned out the back seat of the squad car. Since Henry left, the vampire was in a continuous vile temper. It took all of her considerable power to keep it under control but when she shoved the suspect into the back of the cruiser the vampire took over long enough to scare the crap out of the whiny wimp.

The oncoming officer yelled out, "Hey Nelson do you clean houses too?"

Pulling her head out from the back of the car she snarled, "I could accidentally miss a few spots if you keep it up."

He held up his hands in peace, "Sorry. I'm not sure which is worse a suspect hurling, pissing, or crapping in the back. I've tried making them clean up the mess, but their lawyers climbed up my ass for cruel and unusual punishment."

Vicki ducked back into the car and scrubbed vigorously, "It's so much fun when they start puking all over the crap they've left behind. I've found it's easier just to clean it myself and get it over with."

He came up to the cruiser , looked in and sniffed, "Honestly though, you do clean it better than anyone else here. Thanks."

Her vampire smelled the young officer's blood, gave her a twinge of angry hunger and she clamped down hard on the urge to bite and said, "Your welcome. Try not to get it dirty."

"Sure and why don't you try to quit intimidating our poor underprivileged criminal element."

Vicki's eyes silvered and her lips pulled back into a wicked grin, "I like intimidating slime."

Suddenly uncomfortable he ran his finger around his too tight collar. "Yeah. You're going to have to teach me that look."

Vicki relaxed, laughed, picked up the rags and cleaning solution, "Sorry, it's a natural talent that can't be taught." Then she used her power to wipe the memory of her grin from his mind.

The vampire struggled trying to get free from Vicki's rigid control as she clamped down even harder and walked into the station, signed out and headed to the locker room. Mumbling to herself about the wisdom of being a cop she didn't here Bennett's footsteps as he came up behind her. Fortunately before he could touch her he bumped his shin on a bench giving her enough warning to keep from ripping his throat.

"Hey Bennett, have you been walking long?"

"Very funny Nelson. Now I've lost the bet."

"What bet?"

"We're are trying to see if one of us can sneak up on you. I bet I could."

"Don't you think it's rather stupid to try and sneak up on any police officer let alone me?"

He looked away, "I guess so."

"Take my advice and quit with the pranks. I've been through the academy and I've worked in big cities. I know all the games you boys play."

"Can't you yelp just a little and give my reputation a boost?"

She let out a loud gasp and yelled, "Crap Bennett! Don't sneak up on me again," and winked at him.

"Thanks Vicki. I owe you."

"Tell your buddy boys to leave me alone. I'm kind of touchy these days and I won't be responsible if someone gets hurt."

"Yeah. We've got a bunch of crybabies in lock up begging us to keep you away from them. What are you doing to them?"

"You didn't see any marks on them did you?" He shook his head 'no' and she added, "I'm in a bitchy mood and snapped at them."

He held his hands up and agreed to pass the word to leave her alone.

Vicki stopped herself from slamming the locker door shut seeing that it couldn't withstand much more abuse. Her strength was increasing in proportion to her temper and she knew if Henry didn't get back soon she'd end up killing someone in a vampire rage.

She heard 'Greensleeves' coming from her pocket and felt the anger calm. "I was just thinking about you."

"Good thoughts I hope."

"The best. How's the investigation going?"

"I've found a lead in the strangest of places."

"Where's that?"

"A story written by a student and published in a local paper as a filler article."

"How did you manage that?"

"Skimming through microfiche and my eye caught a story about spontaneous combustion. From there I did some cross referencing and ended up reading more. One story led to another until I found one that might mean something. I'm going out into the back country tomorrow night and do some digging."

"How much longer do you think you'll be?"

"If it pans out, I should be one the road home by midnight. Why?"

"I'm having trouble controlling _it_."

"Mine's not behaving well either. I'll be there as soon as I can."

"Don't you do anything stupid trying to get back."

"I won't."

"Henry I..."

"Me too. Be careful love." They broke the connection before the conversation turned maudlin.

Ophelia pulled out a box from the bottom of her closet that held some of her favorite students work. She decided it was time to clean the place up and throw out stuff that wouldn't mean anything to the next owners of her little house. Earlier in the week she'd written a will and called a taxi to take her into town at the end of the day to file it with the clerk of courts and while she was there she met with some of her former students to talk about the past. When she was ready to leave, the sheriff insisted on driving her home.

As he turned into her drive he asked, "So how's officer Nelson treating you?"

"Tommy, she's the best person I've met in years. I don't know what I'd do without her weekly visits. You did a good job when you hired her."

"What's so good about her? I know she's doing an outstanding job on nights keeping the peace, but what's she doing for you besides stopping in and dropping off supplies?"

"She listens. She doesn't make me feel like I'm a pest taking her time away from her job. She understands what it's like to want to spend time alone. Unlike the others you've sent out, we can talk about woman things. I like her Tommy and I trust her."

"That's good enough I guess."

"Tommy, when I die please don't question my will. It's what I want."

"What are you talking about? You're going to live forever."

"It certainly feels like it. But Tommy, I'm old and I feel the years catching up with me. Just remember what I asked."

He walked her up to her side door and said, "Yes Miss Drew."

She patted his cheek and he went in behind her making sure everything was secure before driving away.

Henry walked around the abandoned farm house and tried to picture how it looked in 1910 and with the eye of an artist and the imagination of a writer, he could. He stepped back and saw the attic window and turned so that he was facing in the same direction someone would see when looking out. There on a slight rise was what he hoped to find, an old barn and he walked toward it carrying a shovel. He went to side that faced east and studied the ground carefully. The hunk of gray granite sat where the story said it would and he leaned over to pick it up and found it was more than half embedded. He used the shovel to work it loose and then dug in the soft earth until the shovel hit something metallic. He pulled out the old tin that was described in the story. He put the rock back and left.

Before leaving Montreal he contacted Claude to let him know that he'd finished his research and planned to start the drive home. Claude asked about the success of his search and Henry said, "That remains to be seen. There's nothing more I can find here." Silently he prayed that he found the answer to Ophelia's question.

Towards morning he was driven by the sun to pull into a motel. He filled out the night register and left money for the rental fee. He took a key off the peg for a room, glanced at the number. The room was clean with door solid and would suit his needs. He took care locking the door, adding a bit of hardware he always carried when traveling, place a chair under the door knob and pulled the drapes shut. He then took the blankets and pillows from the bed to pad the bathtub. The vampire within insisted that he take as many precautions as possible when staying anywhere other than home. More than one vampire perished over the years simply because they were careless in their arrangements for the day. Settled into the tight space he pushed speed dial for the first number listed on his cell.

"Did you do anything stupid?"

"Scared the crap out of a suspect. Literally."

"Why's that stupid?"

"I had to clean the squad car."

Henry couldn't help but laugh and she sputtered, "Keep laughing, Fitzroy," before laughing herself. "They confess to everything just to get away from me and be locked up safe and sound."

"I'll text you when I'm an half hour from the Bridge."

"I'm off for the rest of the week so do you want to go and see Ophelia tonight?"

"That's probably the best. How many nights off do you have?"

She could hear the longing in his voice and felt the need for him rise to a fever pitch. "I've got three in a row and I plan on spending every minute of them with you."

"Good plan."

Vicki and Henry sat across from Ophelia who sat with her hands folded resting on the round oak table covered with a crochet doily. Her head was bowed as Henry said, "Andre' loved you Ophelia and he didn't leave you by his own choice."

She looked up, "How can you be certain?"

Henry reached out a hand and placed it on both of hers, "I'm not certain, but I've been able to piece together a chain of events that make sense and I found something that may well be all the prof you need."

The tea things on the counter were forgotten as she waited for Henry to start speaking.

"My research led to me to reading a series of 'Believe it or Not' stories written by school kids. One was a family tale. The writer talked about how his grandfather watched a man burst into flames after his father hit him in the back of the head with a rock.

Grandpa was watching from his attic window. His father was coming up from the barn when he saw man coming out of his big sister's bedroom window and hit him with a rock. His father then dragged the man to the east side of the barn and went back into the barn for a shovel. While father was gone the sun rose and there was a flash of light and a fire. When father reached the side of the barn the fire was out and there was nothing left to bury. The boy watched his father pick up stuff place it in a tin and bury it under a hunk of granite. The sister never acted as though she missed someone and the boy forgot about seeing what his father had buried until years later when he told the story to his grandson.

"I looked at the dates and name of the writer and back tracked those names until I found records of property ownership near the town where you and Andre' lived. I drove out into the country and found an abandoned farmhouse that fit the description and did some digging. If I didn't know better, I'd say something or someone helped guide me in that direction."

Henry reached down and opened the duffel bag sitting between his and Vicki's feet. He pulled out an old tobacco tin and handed it to Ophelia. "I haven't opened this. What ever is in here should be seen by you first."

She tried to pry open the lid and handed back to Henry. "You're going to have to help me."

He placed his fingernail under the rim and pushed up. The lid moved and Henry pried it the rest of the way off and handed it back to her without looking.

She slowly poured the contents onto the lace doily not worried about the dirt hurting the antique handy work. A few buttons, pocket watch, pen knife, coins and a oddly shaped item fell out. Ophelia picked up the last bit and held it close to her eyes before handing it over to Vicki. "Wash this. There's soap and a nail brush under the sink."

Vicki reached out, took it, stood and went to the sink. While she was working Ophelia took a chain from around her neck and placed a beautiful jade pendant on the table and waited for Vicki to give the piece back to her.

Vicki watched as the dirt and grime of a hundred years rinsed off the lovely green jade. She turned to see a similar piece laying in front of Ophelia. Vicki placed hers by the other one and sat down. Ophelia took both pieces turning them like puzzle until they fit together forming a disk of intricately carved jade.

Ophelia spoke so softly that both Henry and Vicki had to lean forward to hear her words. "We were walking in Montreal when an old china-man came up to us and as Andre' went to wave him off the old man held this up and said in broken French, "As long as the pieces fit together you'll be one. Then he broke them apart and handed one to each of us. The old man said something more in Chinese, laughed and ran down the street. Andre' placed his in his pocket and I put mine in my purse. It was a few nights later I had my first and only taste of his blood."

She took the disk, broke it apart and handed a piece first to Vicki and then to Henry. Vicki took the piece Henry held, put them back together, looked into his eyes and watched him nod in agreement. Vicki put the jade back into Ophelia's open hand, "Keep this. You and Andre' need to be together."

Ophelia thread the chain through the bails and put it back around her neck. "You'll both come to visit again, won't you, please?"

Henry stood came over to Ophelia leaned down and hugged her. She wrapped her arms around his waist and accepted his comfort as he said, "Of course we will."

Vicki came over to them and added, "I'm assigned to visit you weekly and Henry and I are a package deal. You get one and you've automatically got the other." Vicki stepped back pulled a card from her pocket and laid it down next to the contents of the tin. "It's time for us to leave. I've got a few night off work, but if you need us, call on either of our private lines."

Ophelia nodded and Henry kissed her cheek while whispering a compulsion for sleep and pleasant dreams. He held the side door open for Vicki as they said their good byes.

Driving back to town he said, "It's as good an ending as any I could have written."

Vicki agreed and said, "Come back to my place and stay with me. No more under the bridge."

_**(Dear reader: Don't worry this isn't the end just yet. RT)**_


	8. Chapter 8

The Bridge - Chapter 8

Vicki stepped back so that Henry could enter her house for the first time since she moved in. He looked around her mismatched collection of furniture and curiosities. "It suits you Vicki. Comfortable and interesting."

"I know it's not up to your standards, but I like it."

"You don't have to defend or justify your space. I'm glad you let me in."

The human part of Vicki asked, "Will _it_ let you say?"

Henry dipped his chin and looked up with longing, "I hope _it_ will."

"Mine didn't give me a moment of peace the entire time you were gone. The craving for hot blood never let up and I didn't feed on humans for fear of killing them but I can tell you the vermin population has decreased dramatically. Now that you're back I don't feel the need to kill my prey."

"I wanted to kill Claude the moment I smelled him. He didn't pose a threat but I hated him being anywhere close. I fed while I was away and years of control kept me from causing harm but there was no pleasure. Hearing your voice each night is what kept me from going into a rage."

They stepped closer to one another and the physical characteristics of vampire replaced their human masks. As one they reached out and grabbed each others throats and waited to see who would blink first. Fingers relaxed as the individual vampires retreated and the vice like grips became gentle caresses.

Henry blinked, "_It_ wants to be here."

Dropping her hand, Vicki said, "_Mine _wants you here. Get over here and kiss me stupid."

Henry's eyebrow arched, "Are you calling me stupid?"

"No! Kiss me until I'm stupid with lust."

Henry was more than willing to oblige by kissing and making love for the rest of the night. Satisfied, they nestled together like spoons in a drawer with Vicki's back against Henry's chest. She held his arm close to her breast and played with his fingers. "I wish we could talk to them."

Shifting to get into a more comfortable position Henry asked, "Who? Ophelia and Andre'?"

"Our vampires."

"I've never thought of trying. As far as I know it's a disease or parasite. A thing with no conscience."

"You think? I swear sometimes I feel like it understands when I talk to it."

"Wishful thinking."

"If you say so. As long as they get along well enough to let us be together, I don't much care."

"They'll always be touchy but we'll manage."

Before anything else could be said the sun rose and they fell into oblivion.

Ophelia held the jade up to the light and watched the colors shift as she turned it over and over wondering what would have happened if they'd taken the time to fit the pieces back together before going their separate ways that last evening. She'd had the same thoughts daily ever since Vicki handed it back to her. Sighing, she dropped it into the gift box and with a good wish for the recipient, she put the cotton batting over it and placed the lid on top. She then put the box along with a brief note into the padded envelope that she'd already addressed and walked it out to the mailbox setting the flag to alert the letter carrier there was a pick-up.

Back in the house she looked around trying to identify what else needed to be done before going to bed. Over the last month closets in the unused bedrooms were emptied, cupboards cleaned and useless junk tossed. There were enough personal items left to tell the story of an old woman that had enjoyed her life, lived most of her dreams and died in peace. Her will was written and all her bills were paid up. Her favorite dress was clean and hanging in the closet with a note explaining what went with it. There wouldn't be much of a mess to clear up after she was dead. Satisfied with herself she went to sleep and wondered how many more times she'd wake up or if she'd even know when she didn't.

Vicki woke to the sound of the owl that lived in the old tree behind her house asking, _"Who? Who?" _and answering_, "what's it to you?"_ She turned to see Henry still had his eyes closed and answering the owl's question she said aloud, "It's Vicki."

Henry laughed, "I know."

"Have you noticed the owl's call sounds like it's asking a question?"

"I have. The sounds of the night are full of questions."

"I wonder if we'd know if we never woke up."

"That my love, is the ultimate question and by the time we have the answer we won't be able to tell anyone."

"I saw Ophelia the other night."

"How's she doing?"

"Slower. Quieter. She asked me to say hi and thank you again for giving Andre' back to her."

Henry acknowledged her words with a quick nod then shifted so that he lay on top of her. "I have only one request and that's if anything ever happens to you, that I not be alive to know about it."

Vicki brought her knees up so that she cradled him between her legs. "I've the same request. Without you, there would be nothing left worth living for." She raised up to meet his lips as he positioned himself to enter her and together they greeted the night with love.

A few nights later Vicki pulled into the police station's employee parking lot and patted her retired police car's hood as she walked to the back entrance. Before the door could close behind her, she heard Sargent Anderson call out, "Nelson, come in here." She looked up at the camera and waved in acknowledgment.

She stood by Sargent Anderson's desk waiting for him to look up before saying, "You wanted to see me?"

He pointed to a chair and she sat. "I've got some sad news for you."

Vicki did a mental check list of who or what he could be talking about. Mike and Coreen had moved on with their lives and no one here even knew about them, her mother called as she was leaving for work and she knew Henry was at his house sitting behind a computer. She couldn't imagine what he was talking about as she said, "Go on."

"I hope you haven't become too attached to Miss Drew because you won't be going to her place anymore."

Vicki felt a stab of guilt when she realized she hadn't included Ophelia in her list of special people but kept it from showing on her face as she sat straighter and said, "She's a good person and it's not a hardship to give her a few minutes of my time every few days. What's happened?"

"Early this morning she fell and managed to get to her phone and call for help. When the rescue squad found her on the floor in a lot of pain they took her to the emergency room. The doctor on call did x-rays found a broken hip and decided immediate surgery was the best option but when they were trying to give her anesthesia she had a cardiac arrest."

Vicki felt her throat close up as she croaked out, "Where's she now?"

"She's in a step down unit and the doctors don't think she'll last the night."

Vicki bowed her head for a moment then said, "If it's all right, I'll stop by the hospital during my break."

"Sure. The sheriff thought you might." Sargent Anderson picked up a padded envelope that rested on the desk in front of him and handed it to her. "This came for you with today's mail."

Vicki held the envelope her hands staring at the the return address as the Sargent waited. Finally he cleared his throat, "Aren't you going to open it?"

Standing pointing at the locker room she said, "Not now. I need to get changed and hit the streets."

Since becoming vampire Vicki was extremely sensitive to odors and there was nothing more irritating to her nose than the smells drifting around hospitals. It was a challenge keeping up the human appearance as she walked the corridors to the step down unit. But Vicki kept her mind focused on what needed to be done. She'd stop in, leave a card at the bedside and slip out again without having to interact with the hospital staff. Five minutes tops and she'd be back in the cruiser.

Vicki stood at the bedside and studied the old woman lying quietly in the hospital bed. The lights were dim, the smooth white sheet was pulled up mid chest and her hands, outside the covers, rested at her sides. Her face was free of care and there was a sense of peace in the room as though all the worries of a life time were coming to a close. Vicki's hearing picked up the rhythm of Ophelia's heart. Each beat came softer and slower than the one before, like the sound of a drum in the distance leading the soldier down the long road to home. Vicki leaned close to Ophelia ear, "I've been told the sense of hearing is the last to go," and whispered one more dream about Andre' and his love for Ophelia.

The sheriff and his wife were sitting in the family room when she came back from Miss Drew's room.

He stood holding out a hand, "Officer Nelson. A moment please."

Trapped, Vicki stopped, adjusted her face and said, "Yes sheriff."

"Thank you for being so good to Miss Drew. She appreciated all that you did for her." His eyes misted up as he added, "The doctors say it won't be much longer before she's gone."

Vicki nodded, "I like her a lot and I'll miss spending time with her."

"Her wishes include a private memorial when she's gone and I know she'd want you there."

"Thanks, but I can't make any promises. I'm never available during the day."

"Sometime I think you're a vampire by the hours you keep."

Startled by his words, she gave a shaky laugh and said, "Sometimes it feels that way. The hours I work and my skin sensitivity to day light has me living upside down. When everything's settled let me know when and where and I'll try to be there if I can."

Vicki walked out of the hospital expanding all of her senses listening for trouble in her town. Not hearing anything of immediate concern she sent a text to Henry.

Henry sat drumming his fingers on his thighs trying to come up with just the right words to create the mood needed for the reader to feel the emotion in his drawings. The incoming text tone broke through his concentration. Irritated at the interruption, he almost ignored it but thought it better to check it now rather than keeping wondering what and who the message was from.

He read the message, grinned and shut down his computer after backing up his work and hitting save.

It had been a while since Vicki'd ask to meet him at the bridge. With thoughts of 'getting lucky' he hummed a happy little tune as he headed out the door.

As Ophelia walked toward the light she saw the outline of a man waiting for her in the distance. With each step she felt the weight of her years fall away. The space around her widened and the gray dawn gave way to a spring morning full of color, fresh air and bird songs. She felt the renewal of hope as the man held his hands out from his sides in welcome. She thought he said something but she was still too far away to hear the words. Quickening her pace she started running. As she got closer she knew it was Andre' telling her he waited at the gates for her to join him. She stopped moving as their outstretched fingers touched, "I knew you never leave me."

"I couldn't reach you. I was locked and lost until someone found the jade. I didn't know which side of the veil you were on so I stayed here hoping there was a chance of finding you, if I went past this point there was no knowing if I'd be able find you."

Ophelia briefly told him how long she'd lived and how, near the end, two vampires helped her. "In my own way I was also locked and lost until Henry found the jade."

They shared a passionate kiss as other souls moved forward beyond sight. Watching them pass Ophelia asked, "What's next?"

Andre' stroked her cheek, "We go forward and accept our fate."

Ophelia turned her head and kissed the palm of his hand, "Whatever happens next, we're together here and now."

Sharing one more tender kiss they walked hand in hand forward beyond sight.

Henry reached the center of the bridge as the cop car pulled up and the window rolled down. He heard Vicki say, "Get in." He opened the passenger door and slid into the seat as she added, "Don't touch anything."

Henry pulled his hand back from the flashers knob. "I'm not getting lucky, am I?"

"Not now. Ophelia's dying . I just came from the hospital."

Henry asked what happened and Vicki filled in the details. He understood Vicki well enough that it wasn't necessary for her to add that she needed his company. While she drove around the town watching for trouble, giving out tickets and chasing home kids that were out past curfew they talked about all the little things that make up a life. An half hour before the end of her shift, Sargent Anderson called to say Ophelia passed.

He saw the sadness pulling down the corners of her mouth and said, "Drop me off at your place before you go off duty."

"Thanks Henry. I'll be home as quick as I can."

In a teasing tone he cautioned as he got out of the cruiser, "Don't do anything stupid."

With a ghost of a smile she replied, "I never do."

She went back to the station, signed out, changed and pulled the padded envelope from her locker. Looking at the return address again she decided to wait and open it at home with Henry.

Henry put some soft soothing music in the CD player and sat down to work on an outline for a new story idea while waiting for Vicki.

He heard her car before it reached the driveway and stood at the door ready to open it for her.

Vicki's vampire tensed up for a moment sensing another vampire in her home then relaxed as he opened the door. She entered saying, "Thank you."

He gave a bow that would be the envy of any butler, "Always at your service, madam."

"Don't tell me you've been a butler too?"

"I've tried a little bit of everything over the last five hundred years."

She dropped her bag on the floor and reached for him. "How do you live with the memories of all the people you've known and lost?"

He held her close and spoke softly, "When you first lose some one you mourn their passing, remember every good thing about them, forget the bad and celebrate their life. Then you put your mind to other things until the pain diminishes. They live again in your heart every time you think of them."

She glanced down at her bag and saw the corner of the envelope and pushed Henry back. "She sent me something at work." Starting to reach for the envelope Henry beat her to it and held it out.

Vicki waved it off and said, "You open it."

Henry stuck a finger under the flap, lifted up and pulled it open. He shook out a small flat box and a folded letter. Together they read:

**Dear Vicki and Henry,**

**I'm not sure how much longer I have and I want to make sure there is nothing left to be done after I'm gone.**

**Only you and Henry know my whole story and that's the way it should remain. This jade piece is all that I have of Andre' and it is very important to me that someone remembers him. You should keep the two pieces together. Don't make the mistake of separating them the way Andre' and I did.**

**Wishing you a long and loving life,**

**Yours truly,**

**Ophelia**

Vicki took the box and as she lifted the lid they shared a vision:

_Ophelia was wearing the dress she had on the night she met with Vicki and Henry, but she looked years younger as she ran towards a man dressed in the style of an Edwardian gentleman standing with his arms outstretched. When the gap between them closed, they shared a kiss and walked hand in hand down a country lane until the vision faded._

Vicki put the lid back on the box and handed it to Henry. "Put this somewhere safe."

He took the box and placed it back in the padded envelope. "I'll put it with other relics that aren't meant to be used in this world. And trust me, after my last mistake hiding objects, I promise it will never be found unless you personally as me to get it."

"I do trust you. Do you think the Chinese man blessed them or cursed them with the jade and what did we just see?"

"I'm not sure about a blessing or a curse, but what we saw was a happy ending for Ophelia and Andre'. Let's lock up and have our own '_happy ending_'."

Vicki smirked at Henry's reference to the oriental massage parlor _'happy ending_' joke, "That's just wrong."

With one of his wicked grins playing around his lips he said, "Perhaps, but the idea's good." He moved with paranormal speed to secure the house then scooped her up and didn't stop moving until he dropped her on the center of the bed. "I'm not going to waste another moment. There's no guarantee that we'll ever wake up so I want you to know how very much you're loved and cherished."

He pulled her shirt over her head and took the time to appreciate the lace bra covering her full breasts before sliding one hand behind her back to pop it open.

Free, her nipples formed hard peaks waiting for his touch. "I wish I could figure out how a man can do that so quick."

Henry stopped and raised an eyebrow, "I'm vowed to secrecy."

During the pause Vicki managed to unfasten his belt, button, and zipper. He glanced down at her finger stroking his obvious arousal and she replied, "I have a few secrets of my own."

Shuddering in pleasure he asked, "Fast or slow?"

"Yes."

Kissing, licking and nipping, stroking and clutching they blended human skill with vampire power to bring pleasure to body and soul until dawn forced them to rest.


	9. Chapter 9

**The Bridge - Chapter 9**

The memorial for Ophelia Drew was held late in the day so that many of her former students including the mayor and sheriff could attend. Vicki and Henry were able to slip in unnoticed close to the end using their vampire skills to blur the memories of those around them so that they thought the couple had been sitting with them since the beginning of the service.

Vicki nodded to several of her fellow officers along with the mayor and sheriff making they were seen and planned on leaving without having to actually speak with anyone.

Heading toward the door Officer Bennett called out, "Hey Vicki, aren't you going to introduce me to your friend?"

Vicki let out a very low growl only Henry's sensitive ears could hear and he grinned as she smiled at Bennett, "Of course. Henry, this is Josh Bennett. Josh, this is Henry Fitzroy."

Henry waited to see if she'd add any more to the introduction before holding out his hand to shake Bennett's. "It's a pleasure to meet you. Vicki said you were quite helpful orienting her to the town and the job."

Bennett looked down at the cool pale hand in his and felt a shiver up his spine. He started to speak, cleared his throat and said, "Vicki hasn't said much about you."

Henry's impish smile flashed at Vicki so briefly that no one saw it but her. "I'm not surprised. Vicki tends to keep things to herself. But if you like, I will tell you a few stories over a bite or two."

Vicki let Henry see a touch of silver in her eyes, "I don't think Bennett's into your menu choices."

Bennett looked at Vicki and she gave him one of her '_don't mess with me smiles_' and he said, "I think I'll pass. I have to work with her and it didn't take me long to learn she likes things her own way."

Henry laughed, "I can tell you that's been a bit of a sticking point in our relationship."

Vicki looked hard at Bennett."You need to leave now!"

Bennett gave an uncomfortable chuckle and a half wave, "It's been nice meeting you Mr. Fitzroy."

Henry gave a gracious nod of the head, "Please, call me Henry."

Vicki almost growled and Bennett backed toward the exit, "Yeah sure, Henry. So long Vicki, I'll see you at the station. Have a good night. Bye." Turned and all but ran.

Henry gave Vicki a frown along with his raised brow, "What's with giving him such a harsh mental push to leave."

"He's overly attracted to the vampire."

Henry looked at the floor and expanded his awareness. He could feel Bennett's confusion over a overly strong sexual desire for both Vicki and himself. He slipped his arm around Vicki's waist and they moved as one out the door and into his car before anyone else could stop them. He whispered as he closed the door, "You're right."

Cupping her ear she said, "Say again, I'm not sure I heard correctly."

"You heard me just fine. But I'll say it again, _you're right_. It wouldn't take much for him to become obsessed with the idea of vampires. He'd search us out and either try to become one or kill us. If he became vampire he wouldn't have the strength to control the killing instinct and if he knew about us and couldn't become a vampire, he'd do everything in his power to destroy us." Shaking his head he added, "From now on we'll both have to be very careful to avoid unnecessary contact with Josh Bennett."

Josh left the wake for Ophelia feeling the heat of desire rise from his middle and descend from his brain at the same time. Almost insane with longing for something he couldn't identify, he knew that he had to satisfy it or die trying. He shook off the feeling as he got into his car and drove. As he made his way along the familiar streets he let his mind wander back to a time when he hadn't felt the longing and as far as he could remember it seemed to start sometime in the few months but that was all he could come up with by the time he reached the station and parked his car. Going into the locker room he felt another rush of heat as he passed the closed lockers but was able to ignore it long enough to get ready for work. Once in uniform and behind the wheel of the cruiser he became a competent officer able to carry out his duties.

Vicki paused at the door waiting for Henry to reach around and open it for her. Somewhere along the line she'd come to appreciate his courteous behaviors and accepted them instead of trying to prove her independence.

Understanding her independent nature, Henry tried to keep his more male controlling attitudes under wraps and stood in the doorway asking, "What's your pleasure for the rest of the night, my lady?"

Laughing she replied, "You, beside me."

Bowing in agreement he came the rest of the way into her home, "I was hoping that's what you'd say."

Vicki dropped her bag on the floor and let her coat fall on top. Henry reached down grabbed her coat and hung his along with her's in the closet. He picked up the bag, tested the weight, shrugged and carried it to where she usually sat.

Vicki watched him and yelled, "You don't have to pick up after me."

"I know, but I was hanging up my coat anyway and it's not good to keep a lethal weapon right by the door."

"What weapon?"

"You could kill someone with the thing you call a purse. What's in it?"

"Everything necessary to survive on the run."

"Paranoid?"

"Me? No. Vampire, yes. Isn't yours?"

"Not recently, but now that I've met Josh, I admit he has me worried. Why didn't you tell me about this earlier?"

"At first I thought it was my imagination and we were involved with Ophelia and her problems. Tonight, however it's become obvious that there's going to be a problem and soon."

Josh Bennett looked at the time on the dashboard and was relieved that he only had about a hour left in his shift. Since seeing Vicki with Henry he couldn't get the couple out of his mind, they were mesmerizing. He longed to spend time with them together and separately. Triple X rated thoughts ran around in his head every time he let his mind get away from him. It was only years of dedicated work on the force that kept him on task.

As he pulled into the station for the end of shift he heard a whisper, _"Let me in and I'll you give time with them both."_

Josh put the cruiser in park and sat behind the wheel as the engine grew cold. Finally he got out of the car and went into the station to turn in his incident sheets, logs and sign out. He avoided eye contact with the incoming shift as he stood at his locker feeling the unnatural heat in his groin.

Outside standing by his own ride he heard the whispering voice, _"I know what you want."_

Josh turned in a slow circle looking into the shadows and then bended low looking under parked cars. There was nothing to be seen. Shrugging off the feeling of being watched he got in the car and drove home.

Henry sat on the sofa sketching while Vicki scrolled through the channels on the remote looking for something interesting to watch on TV. Finally he looked up and said, "Either pick something and stick with it for ten minutes or turn it off. You're surfing is breaking into my concentration."

Vicki snarled back, "Tough. Deal with it or go home."

Henry slowly placed the tablet and pencil on the coffee table as Vicki hit the 'off' button and dropped the remote. Black eyes and fangs glared at silver eyes and equally dangerous fangs. Together they stood, nodded in agreement and got their coats. Vicki looked at her bag and kicked it under the sofa while saying, "This vampire's not going need anything but blood tonight."

"What's wrong?"

Vicki held out her arms, pulled up her sleeves so that the black ink was visible, "He's back."


	10. Chapter 10

**The Bridge - Chapter 10**

Henry held out both open hands to Vicki and she placed her forearms on them with marks up so that he could see them. He bent forward peering at each one closely then touching each with his lips.

Vicki tried tugging her arms out of his hands, "What are you doing, playing sex games with my arms?"

He gave an irritated snort and said, "Checking for any changes in the marks and the skin under them is the same temperature as the rest of your arms." Straightening up he gazed into her eyes and asked, "Are these giving you pain?"

"Not exactly. Sometimes it feels like the skin's crawling."

"How long has this been happening?"

She pulled her arms back and covered the marks with her long sleeves, "Honestly, I'm not sure. Maybe it started around the time Charles died."

"Charles?"

"I told you, the young man I fed from a few times that started developing a possessive attitude toward me. He died when he drove into a herd of deer."

"After the accident you decided that by joining the force as a street cop to keep other young fools from driving while drunk."

"More or less. I want to earn the blood I need to live and helping to keep the city safe is my way."

"It's as good a reason as any. What makes you think Astaroth's back?"

"The crawling feeling is beginning to last longer and it's happening more frequently. If it's not him what else could it be?"

"Almost anything. By now you should know there's more to this world than is taught in schools."

"Yeah, I've been meaning to thank you for opening my eyes to the freaky and creepy side of life."

Taking on a defensive look Henry said, "Don't go blaming me. It was Norman that started playing with demons."

Looking down and rubbing her marks she replied, "Yeah, like I'm going to forget that anytime soon."

He took the index finger of his right hand and gently tilted her chin up so he could look into her eyes, "Let's go out and have some fun for a change. I know a bar that has live music and is full of characters that'll make you laugh."

"Why not? It's not like we spent much time laughing these last few weeks."

Josh Bennett was covered in a cold sweat by the time he got home. Trying to open the door and get to his room before being stopped by his great aunt was always a challenge. He'd been living with her since his parents decided to move to a warmer climate. Great Aunt Tricia was his grandmother's sister and needed help around the house and for free room and board he was it. She watched him like a hawk and she could be more annoying and noisy than any mother could possibly be but she was a great cook and kept track of his possessions and clothes better than anyone.

"Joshua Bennett, don't go sneaking up to your room without talking to me."

Gritting his teeth he turned toward the living room thinking about how he was a thirty something officer of the law having to answer to a 86 year old spinster that could grill him better than internal affairs and secret service combined.

The old lady sat in a rocker with her lap covered by a crochet afghan made sometime in the 1960's. Her white hair was thick and curled around her pink wrinkled cheeks. Her pale blue eyes were surrounded by laugh lines and her pink lips turned up at the corners in a perpetual secret smile.

"You don't have to avoid me boy. I know you're being driven to madness by evil thoughts. Tell me what's happening and I promise you'll get to sleep without a single bad dream."

"How do you do it Aunt Tri? I haven't said a thing and still you know."

"I'm a witch."

"You've said that since I was a kid. Honestly I wish you'd quit saying that."

"Tell me what's happening now and I'll never say another thing about the craft."

"I'm hearing voices and they're telling me I can have a woman I'm interested in if I do things. Bad things. Aunt Tri, I'm a cop. I live to serve and protect. If the voices don't stop, I don't know what I'm going to do."

"Start at the beginning. Who's the woman?"

"Vicki Nelson she's the new hire I told you about. She helped Miss Drew until she died. She only works nights and is the most beautiful woman I've ever met. She's funny with a sarcastic sense of humor. All she has to do is smile and I'd do anything for her. She's not interested in me. The last time I tried to ask her out for coffee or something she said she had a significant other. I met him at the wake for Miss Drew. Now I'm attracted to him and I don't swing that way. The voices keep saying I can have them both and then it's like watching XXX porn playing out in my mind."

"What's her friend's name?"

"Fitzroy. Henry Fitzroy."

Aunt Tricia sat straighter in her chair and stared out into the distance. Josh was about to get up and head for his room when she said, "Is he on the shorter side with reddish gold hair curling around the collar of his shirt? Does he have penetrating blue eyes and a quick smile with almost courtly old world manners?"

"Yeah. That sounds close to what I saw. Not so much with the manners maybe, but something about him makes me want to follow him."

Aunt Tricia stood up without difficulty and walked over to Josh placing her hand on his shoulder, "Give me Officer Nelson's cell phone number." She leaned down and stared into his eyes after he rattled off the number. "Josh you are under my protection and will remain safe in this house. No voices can be heard and no power can control you as long as you remain here. Go to your room and sleep."

Josh blinked several times and said, "I'm going to bed. I feel like I've been working for thirty six hours straight. Thank God I'm off tomorrow. Hope you don't mind if I sleep in."

She patted his cheek, "Not at all dear boy. Get some rest."

"I'll do the yard work later."

"I know. Go."

Tricia watched the young man leave the room and climb the steps to his bed room, then went into the kitchen and made a cup of herb tea, whispering spells and invoking guardian spirits as she completed her task. When the tea was ready she took a sip of the fragrant brew, sighed and placed a call to Vicki's cell phone.

Vicki looked around at the _'authentic' _Irish Celtic bar and smiled. Pointing to a ceramic leprechaun holding a pot of gold she asked, "Did they miss anything?"

Eying the gild harp and rainbow over the bar Henry answered, "I don't think so. But listen to the band, they're good and everyone is enjoying themselves. Find someone with a whiskey buzz and have bite."

"Why?"

"It's the only way one of our kind can appreciate alcohol. Vicariously."

They sat a small round table in the corner and watched the patrons drink, dance and sing along to the old songs. Whenever the barmaid came to their table they'd order shots of the Irish and water. When someone wasn't watching their own glass it would be topped off with the generosity of a friendly vampire. Soon Vicki's drink was ready and as he staggered out to get a bit of fresh air she followed close behind. Henry stayed back to watch her bag and listened to a well played jig that had a young colleen dancing in front of the band.

Henry heard Vicki's phone buzzing and decided to answer it. Before he could say a word he heard a voice say, "I know what you are and I know who and what your ancient friend Henry is. If you want this to remain secret you'll meet me at the old bridge two hours before dawn. I'll give you plenty of time to crawl back into the dark before sunrise."

Vicki came back to the table with a silly grin on her face. She leaned in and Henry could smell a touch of alcohol mixed with blood on her breath before she gave him a peck on the cheek. "This may be your best idea yet. It's been a long time since I enjoyed a drink this much." She slipped into her seat and watched the colleen dance.

Henry regretted having to pull Vicki away from the fun as he made some excuse about remembering he needed to post an outline for a story before dawn and helped her to her feet. As they walked to the parked car she kept getting up on her toes and tried swinging her hips from side to side. Henry kept her from falling more than once before snarling, "What are you trying to do?"

Giggling she said, "That dancer looked like she had only one leg when she got up on her toes. I want to do it too."

Impatient to get her home so that he could go to the bridge, Henry scooped her up and dumped her into the car.

He drove her back to her place. Tucked her into bed with a kiss and a promise to be back before dawn. He hated leaving her alone when it was so obvious the inner vampires were going to allow them play time, but he needed to know what was going on without Vicki's help. Her tendency to jump in with both feet might upset a balance that's been in place for centuries.

To Henry the bridge didn't feel like its usual romantic shelter but rather sinister and he approached it with caution when he saw the outline of a woman standing in the center of the bridge. Her back was straight and her chin held high and there was no doubt in his mind he was meeting an equal. He approached her with a courtesy reserved for one royal meeting another. As he closed the gap he spoke softly and with a brief nod he said, "My Lady."

She turned and her eyes of ice showed no warmth as she nodded in return, "My Lord. I didn't expect to see you tonight."

"It's been a long time. Have you been well?"

"As well as anyone that lives the way I must. And you?"

"It's challenging, but I've managed."

"Tell me about your companion."

"She's newly turned, under my protection and if I have my way we'll stay together indefinitely. Why is it of concern to you?"

"She's come into contact with one that's under my protection and that contact is causing him undue distress."

"I see. What would you have us do?"

"He's human and he's weak and through no fault of his own he is a magnet for demons. There's one calling to him urging him to do evil and I know the source is your protegee."

Henry bowed his head in acknowledgment. "I can assure you she's not in league with demons but I'm not surprised to hear there's trouble. We've had warning."

Constance Mary Patricia York's eyes narrowed, "What warning?"

He gave her a brief description of what happened when Henry first met Vicki but didn't elaborate. With the first twinge of the coming dawn Henry added, "It's not just my story. If you would allow, it would be better for Vicki to be present for the rest. And it would be better if she learns of you from your own words."

"So be it. Neutral ground of your choosing."

"I trust you to find sacred ground where we can talk in peace."

"The nature preserve on the far side of the bridge has an oak grove. Be there with Vicki tomorrow an hour after sunset."

"We'll be there, but she's dedicated to her job and will leave in time to report to work."

"That's good to know. My Joshua is dedicated as well. That gives me some hope our troubles can be resolved."

Henry slipped into bed beside Vicki as she snarled, "Quit jarring the bed. My head's killing me."

He reached for her hand and entwined their fingers, "Sorry love. Too much whiskey when your not used to it can be rough. I have a good hangover cure if you need it at dusk."

Mumbling, "I'm sticking to beer from now on." She sighed in relief as the sun rose and she faded into oblivion.

The sun set and Vicki started moaning. She edged her way to the side of the bed and placed one foot on the floor to keep the room from spinning. "Crap and double crap."

Henry could here her moaning and as soon as he could move he rolled on his side toward her and put his wrist to her mouth and very softly commanded, "Bite and take a few sips."

Vicki's vampire smelling a source of fresh blood bit down on the wrist. As soon as it took enough to ease the pain it pulled back its teeth and licked the wound. Keeping very still Vicki slowly felt the headache and nausea recede. She turned her head toward Henry opened her eyes and said, "Thank you."

"No need to thank me. I should have warned you taking in blood laced alcohol packs twice if not three times the punch as drinking straight shots, and the guy you followed out had had way more than he should have."

She sat up and put both feet on the floor. "Its okay Henry some lessons I need to learn the hard way. So vampire bloods a good cure for hangovers?"

"Only for other vampires. Since vampires normally don't get along well enough to share it's not common knowledge."

"And you learned this from ...?"

"Christina. We've had our fun over the centuries when we weren't trying to kill each other."

"Why didn't you stay with her?"

"She didn't want to put in the effort it takes to stay together. She's always been about living for fun. When it's no longer fun she drives her young away or kills them. When she comes across one of her turns, she goes for the fun first then the kill. The art of being around Christina is knowing when to leave."

So, if she comes around again you'll play her game."

"Perhaps. She is my sire and as you know the pull to your sire is hard to ignore."

"God what a mess."

"Get up and get dressed. I've got to tell you some things that you're not going to like. What's your schedule for tonight?"

Vicki ran her fingers through her hair and mumbled about vampire relationships as she headed to the shower. She called over her shoulder, "I've got a short shift, midnight to six AM. If you can behave, I'll share the water and we can get going sooner."

Behaving and moving at vampire speed they showered dressed and were sitting at the kitchen table drinking bottled water.

"While you were enjoying your cocktail last night your phone rang and I answered it. Based on the message I met a woman at our bridge early this morning. She's Joshua Bennett's aunt. We need to meet with her before you start your shift."

Vicki's arms began tingling. Rubbing them together, "I'm not going to like this am I?"

"Probably not. But if it makes you feel any better, I'm not going to like it much either. My past is coming back to haunt me. Let's get moving."

Henry drove his car as Vicki followed in her retired CV. The single lane road wound through the preserve until it widened for a parking area big enough for six cars. Vicki pulled in beside Henry and waited for him to get out before leaving her own car. In the dark woods the night birds and animals were in full voice. Vicki whispered under her breath as she answered the owl's nightly question.

Henry looked at her and she said, "What? I answered the owl."

The regal woman stepped from behind the ancient oak, "Are you sure it was the owl that asked?"

Vicki's vampire made itself visible as she crouched in a defensive pose. Henry placed a hand on her shoulder, "Easy. This is Constance Mary Patrica York and it's not wise to anger her." Vicki eased her stance and let the vampire retreat as Henry continued. "My lady this is Vicki Nelson, my daughter in the night, my partner and my friend. She works with Joshua."

"You may call me Aunt Tricia, that's what Joshua calls me. As to my relationship with Henry Fitzroy, it's complicated and not relevant at this time. What is relevant is the evil that's within you."

Vicki pulled away from Henry's hand, "Listen lady. I'm not evil. I never have been and I never will be."

Pointing to Vicki's arms she said, "Nevertheless you've been marked by evil."

Vicki turned on Henry and snarled, "Thanks for blabbing my secrets."

"I'd didn't. My cousin's gifts are far reaching and there's very little that remains hidden from her."

Aunt Tricia smiled at Henry and said, "I'm not all that powerful despite what you believe. A great deal of my gift is luck and the ability to guess and ask leading questions. I'm not saying I don't have magic but I've learned to live without using it." She grinned and added, "Much."

The woman's regal appearance faded and a tired old lady stood in her place. Looking down at herself she shrugged, "It takes a lot of energy to maintain a glamor. This is the real me. Sorry Henry even your blood can't hold off time forever."

Looking at Vicki she said, "A long time ago I was in a battle against a demon that wanted access to this world and thought because I had a few gifts I was going to be that access. I studied the old tomes and found a spell that needed vampire blood mixed with herbs to gain the strength to win. Those with power sometimes sense the need. Henry contacted me and offered his blood." Aunt Tricia stopped talking as she watched the expressions changing on Vicki's face. "You know the spell and you've used it."

Vicki closed her eyes briefly before glancing at Henry, "I had to save Henry. Time was running out. A friend and I found the spell and I stabbed Henry and used his blood. It took a long time for him to forgive me."

"It's because he knew the consequences of using his blood combined with magic. I've been hounded as a witch and sorceress even escaping being burned at the stake while others weren't as lucky. I've had to live in hiding and watch evil events unfold knowing that I could have prevented much suffering if I'd used my powers. But with each use of power there's a heavy price to pay and that you'll be paying that price as long as you live."

Holding out her arms so the marks were visible Vicki said, "Henry's blood wasn't the cause of these. Norman put them there under the direction of Astaroth. Henry helps steer me away from evil. If it's me that keeps bringing good people to evil's attention, I'll leave tonight."

Henry stepped back into the darkness letting the two women talk while he listened.

"Some people through no fault of there own are magnets for evil. You're one of those. If anything, the vampire within you and Henry's vampire are what keep the demons from controlling you. There will always be another battle for you and he to face, but as long as you stay together you have every right to expect victory over them."

"What about Joshua?"

"He's the great great grandson of a witch I befriended years ago. When she was dying of old age, she asked I watch over her family and keep them safe from demons. It's been an easy request until Joshua was born. He's a magnet. He senses the call of the demon hounding you and he senses without understanding the vampire within you and Henry. Unfortunately we'll have a battle on our hands before the next full moon. I need to honor my promise and I need to pay back Henry for the use of his blood so many centuries ago."

Vicki stood tall and said, "I don't back away from fights. Whatever it takes I offer my service."

From the darkness Henry said, "If the demon had any brains it would go away and leave those under your protection alone, but demons aren't known for their brain power. Constance, I'll use my magic if necessary and Vicki and I will stand with you in your battle against this demon."

Aware of the passage of time Aunt Tricia said, "That's enough for now. I'll keep Joshua warded against the evil while you two try and stay as far away from him as possible. Vicki, look into yourself and try to find out what demon is actively pursuing you. Remember, names are power. Get it's name without giving up anything of yourself or Henry. You can do cunning can't you?"

Henry let out a laugh, "Indeed she does. Come on Vicki. It's time for you to get to work and I need to feed."


	11. Chapter 11

**The Bridge Chapter 11**

Vicki nodded to Aunt Tricia and touched Henry's hand lightly saying, "I'll see you later."

He stood and watched her tail lights fade from view before turning back to Aunt Tricia and remembered his older cousin from his life as the royal bastard son of Henry the VIII.

Henry bowed to her, "It's been a long time cousin. I never thought to see you again."

"There were consequences to using your blood that didn't appear for years. The obvious one is longevity. The others less so. I'm never able to live in peace for very long. Evil has a way of finding me and those I love. So now we're back to where we started. I'm heading home to prepare for the coming fight. You need to prepare also."

"What do you suggest I do to prepare?"

"Recall your teachings. Make certain there are no alliances with darkness. Cleansing rituals should be performed where both you and your friend dwell. Allow no thoughts of hate or revenge cloud your purpose. Keep your friend from getting angry and until the battle is won, she needs to stand back."

Henry shook his head, "That's not going to be easy, Vicki has a short fuse and she'll dive in to defend me at all cost to herself if she thinks I'm in any danger."

"She's that loyal to you?"

"We're that loyal to each other. I'd do the same for her."

"Good enough. I'll defend both of you and my Joshua." With that said she turned and walked into the shadows.

Henry got into his car and drove home thinking about how he first met his cousin.

_Spring progressions led by the King of the land were stately elaborate affairs that moved slowly around the kingdom. Noble families were required to host the royal entourage providing food, shelter and entertainment. Depending on the king's mood Henry was commanded to attend the king and participate. During one such progression Henry encountered his third cousin Constance Mary Patricia York. Being of much lesser rank she didn't catch the eye of the king but Prince Henry was intrigued by a girl that didn't seem to care about the king, his son or the rest of the royal gathering. _

_Constance Mary watched the king and the young prince hold court at her father's table and found she wasn't impressed and anxiously awaited her chance to slip away. During a change in entertainments she found the opportunity to leave ._

_Prince Henry had grown bored and was looking at a side door when he saw his older cousin using it. He decided if she could leave so could he. Making an excuse to the guests on either side he got up and left the table. Unnoticed, he moved around the outer edges of the hall until he came to the same door his cousin had used and made his escape._

_Constance Mary didn't bother to look over her shoulder to see if she was being followed because no one had ever done so before. She made her way to the ancient oak that grew near the edge of the land surrounding her father's keep. _

_When Henry got closer he could hear Constance Mary talking to the tree. Aloud he said, "What are you doing?"_

_She jumped, spun around and glared at him. "How dare you follow me and interrupt my prayers?"_

_"Praying to a tree? Are you pagan?"_

_"You! A bastard, dare to judge me? Who are you to accuse I pray to a tree?"_

_Henry could not argue with her words simply said, "You are not the first to call me that, nor will you be the last. I do not stand in judgment, I merely ask. My tutors forbid questions about the old ways and I am curious."_

_For the next few days they talked and Henry found out that they shared abilities that would be frowned upon by the religious community and agreed to keep each others secrets. The friendship that was forged over those days would last a lifetime._

_Ten years after turning vampire Henry's friendship with Constance Mary was put to the test when she was on trial for witchcraft. She sent out a mental call for help from any with power. Henry heard plea and came to her aid. At first when she saw his vampire nature she refused his help fearing that he was even more evil than the demon spirit controlling the minds of her accusers. He assured her that he was not evil, just a little foolish when it came to love and made a choice that could not be undone. She bid him to gather herbs and if he was willing, to let her have a few drops of his blood for a drink to fight the demon at his own game. _

_Henry did as told and helped with the battle of wits as Constance Mary defeated the demon spirit and the little village where she lived was spared from those who didn't understand the difference between evil magic and the gentle healing arts. _

_Henry watched Constance Mary for weeks looking for signs that his blood caused her to turn while he gathered knowledge about the dark arts. He learned enough to fear the dark side of magic and vowed to avoid its use. When Constance Mary showed no signs of harm from using his blood he moved on. _

_For Constance the use of his blood caused changes in her powers that were slow in developing. Time moved at a snail's pace and she aged very slowly. Evil would show up where ever she was and whenever she used her magic, but the need to help others would lead her to using that magic. She had to move constantly to keep from being accused of witchcraft. Those with magic of their own would find her and beg to be taught in the old ways and with the teaching came the lurking evil. _

Constance Mary, Aunt Tricia these days, sat at her kitchen table thinking about her long past and how old and tired she looked while Henry physically looked very like the young man that followed her to the oak tree and later shared his blood. How she'd love to sit and talk with him about all the years between meetings but it was not to be. She had only one battle left in her. Joshua Bennett's life would be her last gift to a world that didn't know or appreciate her efforts to keep it safe from evil. She gave a brief thought to Vicki Nelson. From what Joshua had said, she was a companion worthy of Henry and again regretted that she'd not have the time to get to know Officer Nelson.

Aunt Tricia rinsed her cup and turned in over on the drainer to dry. She went into her workroom to gather the needed herbs and powders. She got down the old books and studied the glyphs looking for the ones marking Vicki's arms and hoped that Vicki'd be able to get her a name.

Vicki finished her shift without incident and drove back to Henry's place. Standing outside the door she waited to organize her questions about Aunt Tricia before knocking.

Henry opened the door, smiling, "Since when do you knock?"

"When I'm not sure where I stand."

Henry stepped back, "Not on my doorstep. Come in and tell me what's bothering you."

"Who is she?"

"No one that you need to be jealous of." He explained his relationship with Constance Mary including the use of his blood to fight a demon and that he hadn't seen her since that time but he didn't doubt her.

"So what do we do now?"

"Find out the name of the current demon and its relationship to the marks on your arms."

"How?"

Knowing that he was going to have to use his dormant powers, Henry started muttering under his breath. He hated going against his christian beliefs but it was a matter of the greater good. "My hardheaded love, you're going to have to let me into your mind."

"Yeah, that's what I figured." She flopped down on his tan leather couch and said, "Go ahead. You've pretty much got full control of me anyway."

He gave her a half grin in denial, "Not hardly, love. I wouldn't want it. The fact I can't control you is one of your greatest attractions. Only with your permission and cooperation can I even begin to scratch the surface of your complicated mind. You're going to have to lead me along the path while I make suggestions."

Henry sat down beside her and had her turn so that her back rested against his chest. He placed his palms over her ears and rested his forehead on the back of her head. He sniffed and whispered, "I smell death."

"Jasmine, is not that easy to find."

"The effort is appreciated. Now clear your mind. I know you're going to hate this but you need to think of Norman, Astaroth and even Raymond. Keep thinking about them and all the events that happened around you that involved them."

As Vicki's mind spun in circles around the events, Henry used his power to watch them unfold like a movie. He kept watching until a common thread was noticed. He rubbed her head with his trying to get her attention without breaking her thoughts. Mentally he said, _"See that thread. Good. Follow it down." _He used his power to suppress both vampires,willing them not to interfere with her thoughts.

Vicki's mind turned to a world of demons as she dosed off into human sleep. Henry watched the dream unfold and guided her deeper into a world of blackness where demons hid. She tried to turn her head held captive in his hands as visions of malformed beings danced before her eyes promising to grant her every desire if only she'd accept them as her lover. One would come forward reaching for her only to be pulled back by the others. They were all trying to claim her as their own saying the mark was meant him. Finally one shouted above all the others, "Me, my name, Alsastaarith. Say it and I'm yours!" Before Henry could prevent it the demon reached out and clawed Vicki's left arm altering the original markings made by Norman so that closed circle was divided by two horizontal raw slashes. The demon screeched again, "My mark, my name."

Henry willed her to back away from the depths of hell. Slowly moving toward the conscious world Vicki kept repeating the name in her head. Finally she opened her eyes and felt Henry's cool hands on her ears. She shifted her weight and Henry dropped his hands to her shoulders. "No, don't move just yet."

He pulled in the scent of jasmine, thought of death and the release of suffering. "I didn't do you any favors when I pulled you into my world."

Vicki put her hands on top of his and squeezed his fingers, "Norman pulled me into the world of demons, you keep me from being possessed by them."

"But I didn't need to turn you into a vampire."

"Perhaps not, but it can't be changed." Vicki, moving at vampire speed, stood, "Let's go kick some demon ass. I'm sick and tired of them thinking I'm their personal gate into this world."

Moving just as quickly, he caught up with her and said, "Not yet. Give Constance Mary time to prepare and I'm going to have to refresh my knowledge of the darker arts."

"I didn't think you'd forget after the last encounter."

"I wasn't at my best the night Astaroth took over Raymond. I don't intend to make the same mistakes again. And you, my beloved Vicki, need to stand apart from the up coming fight."

Eyes silvered, fangs bared she snarled, "What do you mean by that Fitzroy."

Henry knew the use of his last name was reserved for those times when Vicki was especially angry and refrained from allowing his vampire to show itself avoiding a prolonged argument, "The new demon's marked you and now has a visible anchor to this world."

Vicki hadn't noticed the stinging in her left arm until Henry called it to her attention. She remembered being clawed in the dream and looked down at her arm to see a purple slash across the charcoal gray mark. "Crap! That was real?"

"As real as it gets. If you don't want to be a permanent part of the demon world, you'll have to trust me and Constance Mary to do our jobs." Henry held out his hands, "Please listen to me. You're way to close to the demons. I know you didn't accept Astaroth, but you did use him."

Changing tactics she said, "I can't stand by and let you fight my battles for me."

"You fought the mummy for me."

"That was different."

"How so?"

"I'm trained to protect and defend."

"I was trained at my father's knee to defend a kingdom by using every means at my disposal. I don't like having the knowledge and skill to use the dark arts, but I can and will use them to protect and defend what's mine. Vicki, you're mine. For once, let me defend and protect you."

"I need to be there. There's power in these marks, teach me one skill that I can use if everything else you and Constance Mary do fails."

Henry's face clouded, "You need to be there to call the demon up and you'll need to be the one to drive him back to where he came from." Vicki pumped her fist in victory but dropped it again as he added, "But until the very end you'll **not** interfere."

Vicki pushed away from his arms, stood with her hands on her hips glaring, "Giving me orders, are you?"

The vampire with in Henry bared his fangs as stood tall with his head back and chin tilted up stretching until he was equal to her in height, "I'd like to think that I was making a royal request, sovereign to loyal subject." Relaxing his stance and pulling back the vampire he gave her one of his disarming grins, " There's no time left for arguments. I'll have Constance give you the instructions you need. Let's get this done."

Vicki watched Henry as he talked shifting through his various persona until he settled on her friend and lover and she bowed her head in acceptance.


	12. Chapter 12

**The Bridge Chapter 12**

Josh Bennett laughed and shrugged _whatever_ as he dropped the the polished red jasper stone that Aunt Tricia had given him into his pocket. She told him it had been cleansed for his use and that he should keep it with him at all times instructing him to hold it tight when the voices in his head triggered unwelcome thoughts about Vicki or her friend Henry. Seeing Vicki's car in the station parking lot, he felt hot desire for her that burned his brain until the weight of the stone in his pocket caused him to touch it, immediately the burning stopped until Vicki came out the door and nodded in his direction. He pulled his hand out of his pocket to wave, felt flames licking his brain as the inner voice screamed '_grab_ _her_' and pushed his hand deeper into the pocket clutching the stone silencing the burning voice. He turned his head away, walked stiffly into the station and quit laughing about the power of a red stone to protect.

Vicki sighed and shook her head. She genuinely liked Bennett and he'd been harmless in his interest in her as a woman until the last few days. Now that the demons were back messing with those that interacted with her and she needed to get that stopped before anyone got hurt. Getting into her CV she wondered if Henry and Aunt Tri (easier to call her that than Constance Mary) had managed to accomplish anything. It had been a week since the meeting on the bridge. Henry took only enough time away from his studies to feed and meet up with her before dawn at the bridge long enough to exchange a few kisses and a bite or two before going their separate ways for the day. During their brief meetings he'd tell her about the progress he made studying the craft and ask about her night.

While waiting for Henry, Vicki watched the last of the moonlight dance on the rocks as the water splashed over them on its trip downstream. She was so deep in thought she didn't sense him until he placed a finger on her hand. Breathing in the scent that was uniquely Henry she smiled out at the water. The rest of his hand joined the lone finger to cover hers as he too gazed at the water in the moonlight.

Vicki took a step sideways and leaned on his arm, "Will we ever be free?"

Henry pressed closer, "Depends on what you consider as being free."

"Right now I'd settle for having the demons stay out of my life."

"We're working on it."

"Any progress. Bennett's hurting and I'm not happy about being left out."

"There's been a great deal of progress. The craft has evolved and Constance Mary..."

"Call her Aunt Tri, it's less of a mouth full."

"In that case make it Tri. She's kept up with the changes and is showing me how to harness power without triggering evil. She had to learn that the hard way after drinking my blood. It seems anything slightly dark can call a demon to her. So I've got to stay in the white when it comes to magic. Who would have thought a vampire could do that? We've found spells and charms that can be used. Soon we'll have enough prepared for the coming battle."

"What's my part in all this?"

"You're the magnet that's going to bring the demon to us. Tri and I will weaken it until the point you can drive it back."

"I have to have a weapon or a spell, something to use in case your magic doesn't work."

"Tri will be talking with you tonight at the park where you first met her."

"You'll be with me, right?"

"No. I've learned enough to know that no one person should have all the parts of the spell to banish the demon."

"Won't Tri know everything?"

"No. I'm on my own when it comes to preparing my part. She already has hers and she'll instruct you and what you need to know to prepare yours."

"Why can't you teach me?"

"I'm not a teacher of the craft. She's always been a teacher." He added, "I know I'm asking a lot of you. You, who needs to know everything will have go into battle knowing only your part."

"How will I know when to use it?"

"When you have no other choice."

The first burning rays of the sun were felt on the vampires necks and they turned as one to the east, snarled their rage and ran at vampire speed to their separate sanctuaries.

Tricia looked down at the collection of rocks and crystals that she polished and cleansed. It had taken hours to properly prepare these elements. She'd buried them in earth, dug them up under the light of the full moon and let them soak in pure water that filled a lead crystal bowl while sitting in the noon day sun. Now they lay on unbleached linen. Soon she would place them before a vampire marked by evil. Hopefully the vampire would reach out and pick up the stone that was meant to be the weapon that could drive a demon from the human world and give them all a time of peace. Long ago Constance Mary Patricia York learned that it was better to fight small battles against persistent evil than to try major battles that could get out of control.

Aunt Tri wanted to protect Joshua Bennett, an innocent soul, from the demon calling him to do evil. She also wanted to help Henry the way he helped her in the distant past. She didn't know Vicki, but because Henry spoke for her and because she was the target for the evil trying to control Joshua, she'd help her as well.

Tonight she planned to give Vicki the tools she needed without alerting the demons. Because the meeting was to take place after Vicki's shift there wasn't a lot of time for instructions. Henry said she was a quick learner and Tri had no choice but to that she was. Pulling up the four corners of the linen, she gathered the stones in a pouch and placed that into another pouch of raw silk. Aunt Tri then went to the ancient tree in the park near the bridge to form a cleansing circle, set wards and otherwise prepare the area for the coming meeting.

Two vampires woke at the same time, sat up, took deep breaths and reached out for the hand that was not there. Snarling in frustration, they got up, dressed and went in search of blood. Each fed with cold efficiency thanking the donor and moved on to the tasks that needed completion before they could concentrate on the up coming battle.

Henry sat in his library reading texts on white magic, pausing to practice hand gestures and words that would make little sense in today's world .

Vicki kept a cool head while driving her beat looking for anything unusual. Occasionally she'd park the cruiser and walk around buildings checking to make sure doors and windows were secure. She'd heard talk in the squad room about bumping her to days because other guys with more seniority wanted her sift because her beat had the least amount of break-ins, reported violence and drug or alcohol related incidents. When that thought crossed her mind she shook her head in annoyance as she got out of the cruiser to make one such inspection. Do your job well and get noticed, do your job poorly and be dissatisfied. Her competitive, independent nature wouldn't let her do anything less than superior work. The vampire instinct to remain hidden was fighting with her need to be an outstanding officer of the law. Her eyes silvered and the marks burned the angrier she became. She started on the long path of asking _why? Why couldn't things go her way. Every time it looked like life was going her way something happened to change it. Her career in police work led her to a dream job with a partner that backed her up on and off the job until her eye sight gave out. Then she started a little private detective agency that was beginning to take off and a crazy with a demon ruined it. She found another partnership that was developing into something special and the demon interfered again. She managed to come to terms with all that happened around her and made a choice only to have ice fall on her head. A different choice was made and again she found herself in a place where just maybe things were going her way and a demon found her yet again._

She made a fist slamming it into the side of the build she'd been checking causing chips of red brick to break away and fall at her feet.

She heard a voice say, "Nice one Officer Nelson. You're supposed to stop vandalism not make it."

Angry beyond reason she turned with silver eyes, bared her fangs and made ready to attack the speaker.

Henry held up his hands in surrender, "Easy, love. It's me."

Not bothering to hide her anger she growled, "Aren't you supposed to be working? Or is going to be up to me to save the day?"

Henry tilted his chin and studied her face. "What's got you so angry?"

"Everything. I case you haven't noticed nothing's gone right in my life for the last five years."

Frowning at her words, "Does that include meeting me? "

She finally looked at Henry standing there with the sad look of regret in his eyes. "It's not you, Henry or us together, but rather all that garbage that keeps following me. I was having a nice quite pity party until you showed up."

Making to turn away he said, "I shall leave you to it."

Vicki moved at vampire speed and placed a restraining hand on his shoulder, "Don't leave. The party wasn't that much fun." She paused before asking, "Why aren't studying?"

Henry moved even faster than Vicki so that he faced her and had her pinned against the brick wall before she could say more. Several kisses later he said, "I needed to see you." He deepened the kisses as his fingers massaged the most sensitive parts of her body. She relaxed in his arms, returned the kisses with rising passion of her own and her hand massaged the bulge growing between them.

Pulling away from the kiss, "There's my shift to finish and I've got meet up with Tri. You're not making it easy for me to do either one."

"Quit the job. I've got more than enough money for us to live comfortably for the next hundred years."

She rested the back of her head on the brick wall and ran the tip of her tongue over her lips tasting the last kiss. "That's what started the pity party. Thinking about the complications of the job. After we get the current demon off our backs let's sit down and talk."

Henry dropped his arms and took a step back as he tasted her on his lips. "I'm not going to be able to rest today unless we finish what we've started."

With a wicked grin she said, "The sun comes up and you shut down. You'll rest whether you want to or not."

Pouting, he agreed, "Yeah but I'll wake up grumpy and so will you."

"You're right. So where do we meet?"

"Where else but under the bridge? Your meeting with Tri is close by and I can be there waiting when your finished."

She leaned toward him and kissed his lips lightly and patted the bulge, "Deal. Now get out of here before I arrest you for harassing an officer."

He looked down at her hand laughed said, "Tease!" He disappeared into the darkness so fast that even Vicki's enhanced vision couldn't capture his movement.

Vicki smiled to herself as she got back into the cruiser. Her body hummed in response to Henry's loving attention and the inner vampire hadn't even objected to his being near.

After logging her incident sheets and signing out for the night, Vicki went to the park. Standing in clearing near the ancient tree she saw Tri with head bowed and arms out stretched chanting quietly. Vicki paused hesitating to speak for fear of breaking an important spell.

Tri looked up and gestured, "Come into the circle but be careful to step over the salt and not on it."

Before Vicki could take more than a few steps her arms began to protest. The sharp pain stopped kept her from moving and with the voice of authority Tri commanded her to continue into the circle. Vicki gritted her teeth and pulled up the vampire in order to move.

Tri put both hands up, pushed out from her body shouting, "Stop! Don't."

Vicki's eyes silvered and fangs dropped as Tri took a step toward her. "I said _**stop.**_ This is not the time to use the vampire."

Vicki stopped again struggling to pull back the inner monster, "Why?"

"Trust me. Come forward without it's help. Once inside I'll tell you everything I can."

Vicki hated pain and hated not being able to do as she wanted, but she beat down her vampire's need to protect and kept walking despite the pain until she crossed the circle of salt and herbs. For the first time in years she felt like she did the day before she witnessed a demon kill an innocent in an alley on her way home from a date. Her field of vision narrowed until she felt like she was looking through a straw, her arms quit giving her pain and the thing within her became silent and she felt completely alone. Aloud she said, "I miss it. It's been gone for only a few seconds and I miss it."

"Miss what?"

"The vampire. The connection to the night and Henry."

"It's only temporary. But I'm gratified to know the magic works. The demon that's drawn here is not aware of your vampire. It's focus is on Joshua and through him you. It's a lesser demon trying to gain access for it's master, the one that altered your mark and gave you it's name during the dream trip. If we defeat the lesser demon and channel the destructive power back to it's master we'll save Joshua and close down one seeking access to you. With the mark changed and the demon that changed it gone, the mark on your left arm can never again be used by a demon. The unaltered mark will remain the only link between you and demon kind."

With a look of pure determination Vicki said, "Once this battle is done I'll repeat the process and finish it once and for all."

"If it were only that easy. We cannot recreate the circumstances that set up this scenario. The initial attack is at the whim of the demon and we counter as best we can. All you can do is be prepared for the unexpected at all times. I'll teach you what I can for this battle, then it's up to you to learn and channel what powers you have for the ones that come next."

Before Vicki had a chance to argue that she had no special powers, Tri held up her hand and said, "We all have gifts to a lesser or greater degree. Your gifts are different than Henry's or mine but no less powerful if you know how to tap into them."

Vicki started to open her mouth but Tri stopped her, "Enough. Time is running out and you have to learn your part and practice. You'll follow my directions to the letter and only do what you are told when you are told to do it."

Independent, I want to know why Vicki said, "I don't work that way."

"Henry told me as much. But you're going to have to woman up and deal."

Vicki frowned and was glad her vampire wasn't able to make its self felt. There'd be a bloody mess in this clearing if it had had its way.


	13. Chapter 13

**The Bridge - Chapter 13**

Henry felt the first warning of the coming dawn as paced back and forth in front of the hidden sanctuary under the bridge waiting for Vicki to join him but convinced himself there was still plenty of time for their lovemaking before surrendering life to the day. He craved Vicki's love. Sex was as easy to obtain as blood, but Vicki's love was another matter. It took tenderness and attention to details to get the response from her that he needed to make his continued existence worth the effort. Smiling he imagined the scene of himself and Vicki as only a romantic writer could. He was determined to make a memory that they could share for years to come. He looked at the sky and wondered again what could be keeping her.

Tri spread the linen cloth on the ground and asked Vicki to pick the polished stone that called to her. Vicki's hand hovered over the stones stopping above one then the other only to be pulled towards a third. Finally she put her empty hand behind her back and said, "I want more than one."

"You may take as many as you like if you can pick them up all at the same time."

"Can you move them around?"

"Not I. You may pick up the corners of the cloth, close your eyes while thinking about the stones you want, give it a shake, lay it back down and grab without looking."

Vicki did as instructed. She held out three stones and Tri asked, "Are those the three you wanted?"

"Two for sure." She singled out one dark green stone that had flecks of black and red, "This one not so much but now I like it best of all."

"Those are all good choices for what's to happen. There's healing, warding against evil and enduring love. Keep them with you at all times and never let anyone else touch them. That includes Henry or myself. They have chosen to you."

Tri gathered up the corners of the cloth, put it along with the remaining stones into the silk pouch and set them aside.

"The stones are for you and not a part of the coming battle. Now it's time I teach you the skills to tap into your power over demons."

"I don't have any powers."

"I beg to differ. You've been marked, you've been tempted, you're a vampire and yet there's no evil in your actions. You live your life serving and protecting those weaker than you. That's your strength, using what's available without being contaminated by it. Now we need to focus and use it to push evil back to where it belongs."

Tri instructed Vicki on basic concepts and gestures. She gave her an old book with spells and told Vicki to memorize the ones of her own choosing."

Vicki studied the book and said, "I can't even pronounce half the words in this thing let alone know what they mean."

"Have Henry teach you how to pronoun the words and tell you their meanings, but don't let him know which spells you will be using. We each must come to the battle with our own plans of attack based on our strengths. I've given you and Henry the tools needed to tap into your individual powers and I know which are mine."

"How can you be so certain our strategies will work?"

"This is not my first battle, nor is it yours. Think Vicki, Astaroth tempted you but didn't get you."

"No it got Raymond, then Raymond turned around and stabbed Henry and I'm a beacon attracting demons."

"Then I guess it's about time we douse the beacon. Any more questions?"

"How long before this crap's finished?"

"Too soon as far as I'm concerned. A night or two from now at the most." Tri stood, smeared the salt and herb circle. "Time to head home."

The power of the circle broke and Tri started walking deeper into the woods and Vicki yelled, "Hey wait, what about my vampire? I can't feel it."

"Your vampire's suppressed until the battle's finished."

"I can't very well hunt without fangs."

"You'll figure out something." With that Tri faded and left Vicki standing alone.

Vicki started walking and plowed into a tree. "Crap." She stretched her arms out and started out again only to trip over roots skinning the palms of her hands. Standing, angry with herself she gritted her teeth determined to find her way back to the main path that led out of the park and to the road that would take her to the bridge and Henry. She could feel dawn on the back of her neck and turned toward the east and walked out into the parking lot. Still she couldn't see and had give up and call for help.

Henry felt his cell phone vibrate. Giving it a tap he said, "Where are you?"

"In a parking lot. I'm not sure which one." And then he heard Vicki say, "I need your help."

"Why?"

"I'm lost."

"Vampires don't get lost."

"Half blind vampires without their advantages do."

Dawn was getting closer and Henry could feel the day pulling him away from the world. "Keep talking and stand still."

Using all his senses he ran towards Vicki's sound and scent. He raced against the sun knowing it was going to be close.

Vicki stood still talking aloud about all of the messes she managed to get herself into and making promises to do things differently if she managed to get out of this one. With the coming dawn, Vicki could see a pinpoint of light. Since she'd been vampire she forgot about the RP. Shaking her head she realized the the disease had progressed and had she remained human, she would have lost even more of of her vision. If Henry didn't find her soon she'd end up a crispy critter.

He grabbed her up into his arms, turned back the way he came and continued running, "What happened?"

She wrapped her arms around his neck. "It's not my fault."

He moved even faster as he felt the sharp burn of the coming sun. "I didn't think it was."

"Where are we going?"

"Under our bridge."

Vicki woke to the smell of damp cold rock with grit in her mouth. Every bone in her body ached and her palms burned.

Henry woke angry, hungry, cramped and in a seriously bad mood. As he remembered the events of the early dawn he pushed himself back dragging a protesting Vicki with him. Not even bothering to try to control the vampire's rage he snarled, "What...?"

Vicki could tell from the slurred sound of Henry's voice she was dealing with a vampire who was not in any mood for evasions. "She's gone Henry."

Knowing rage and anger wouldn't get the answers he needed, Henry forced the vampire back and spoke softly, "Who's gone."

"My vampire. I met up with Tri and she had me enter a circle as she mumbled some words and my vampire faded. She gave me some polished stones, a book of spells and a few lessons. When she left my vampire didn't come back. She said it won't until the demon's driven back to it's master and the one that changed my mark is destroyed. I'm back where I was before you turned me, but evidently my human eyesight degenerated even more while I was vampire." Taking a deep breath she added, "I'm almost completely blind Henry."

Henry made a fist and took a swing knowing she would duck reflexively if she could see. Vicki stood unflinching and he checked his swing before connecting with her chin. There was no doubt about the truth of her words.

Unaware of what he was doing she said, "Say something."

"What's to say?"

"I wouldn't let Mike help me when my eyes went bad, but Henry, I'm asking you, I need your help."

What was left of his vampire rage faded. He opened the door to the sanctuary, scooped her up into his arms and headed for his car. Vicki started squirming trying to get to her feet. He snarled, "Don't bother. You asked for my help and my vampire intends to protect it's child."

Once back at her house Henry called Tri after helping clean Vicki's wounds. He listened as Tri explained that the demon bothering Joshua and the one that changed the mark on Vicki's arm were not aware of her being vampire.

"You see Henry, we need every advantage in the coming battle. Vicki's the unknown. Her vampire and untapped talents will catch the demons off guard when we drive them back to hell."

"But what about her eyesight?"

"Honestly Henry there was no way for me to know about that when I suppressed the vampire. What's done is done and the plan can't be changed. You'll have to do the best you can until this is over."

Henry snarled into the phone as he broke the connection.

He studied the spell book that Tri had given Vicki before asking, "Did you have a chance to look at this?"

"Only briefly. It looks like Latin, old English and a mix of something else."

"Pretty much. It's bad poetry, mumblings and just plain nonsense." He paused before asking, "What are you to do with this?"

"Memorize spells to use against a demon while not letting you know which ones. And that's going to be tricky, because you will have to read and teach me every word."

Henry continued looking at the pages before looking up and saying, "I'll teach you the sounds until you have them perfect and then I'll teach you their meanings."

"What about grammar, tenses and declension of verbs, you know, all the junk you need to know to read Latin?"

"Don't worry these are just words about nature, good, evil, hope, and despair. Nothing remotely resembling sentences or scholarly work ."

Vicki listened carefully to Henry's voice as he pronounced the words on the pages. She'd echo them back until they were perfect. Then he'd tell her the meaning. Finally she had two phrases that kept repeating over and over in her mind. She'd listened to other words parroting them back and didn't bother to learn the meanings. She'd found her words and began organizing them in a way that made sense to her and gave her a tingling sensation all along her nerves. When a phrase was repeated several times the markings on her right arm grew cold and the altered marks on the left burned. Crossing her arms out front allowing the two marks to touch canceled each other out.

"Enough Henry. I've got what I need."

"Are you sure?"

"Nope, but my mind can't absorb any more. So what's next?"

"When are you scheduled to work again?"

"Crap. Work! I forgot!" She stood up circled in place with her hands out stretched. "There's no way I can do the job almost blind." Reaching out toward where she thought Henry was she said, "Give me the phone!" Dropping her hand she added, "No! Wait. You call. Tell them I'm dead. No. Sick. No. My mother's sick."

Henry reached down and moved the table out of her way as she started pacing, "Henry! What should I say?"

"Stick to the truth. Your eye condition flared up unexpectedly. You need to take time off to have it evaluated. You did them about eye problems when you took the job didn't you? That's your reason for only working nights right?"

"Yes! That's it. Eyes. Give me the phone." While it rang she mumbled to herself, _Damn losing another job to bad eyes. _

Henry stood beside her and placed a hand on her shoulder. "It's only temporary."

"Yeah, I know, but still, I've lost control of my life again."

Sargent Anderson picked up the phone and Vicki explained about needing to take some time off due to vision problems. Sargent Anderson accepted the excuse but said she'd have to have a full physical including vision and hearing before coming back on the job.

Vicki thanked him and let the phone drop to the floor. "Well! That's that. We get these demons back to hell and we move again."

"I thought you wanted to stay here for at least ten years."

"So I did but there's not much chance of that is there?"

"We don't have to make any long term decisions tonight. You've got your spells and I've got mine. Let's go out and find some dinner, then come back and play."

"There's another problem." She tapped her teeth, "No fangs."

Henry brushed some hair off Vicki's face and kissed her lips lightly. "Right! No fangs. A newborn vampire."

"So?"

"So you'll feed from me."

Vicki got a dreamy look remembering the emotional highs she experienced taking blood from Henry and with a deep sigh she said, "Good."

Henry remembering his own feelings agreed and went out to do some gluttonous eating.

Vicki wondered why Henry was bothering to knock as she opened the door. "Did you forget your keys?"

Taken by surprise at not being recognized Joshua Bennett sputtered, "So it's true. You can't see."

Vicki taking a defensive stance said, "I can see well enough to do what's necessary."

Joshua held up a hand in submission, "I don't mean any harm. At least not to you, not now."

Vicki didn't back away as her hand searched for the asp that she kept on the table by the front door. "What do you mean by that?"

Shaking his head as though to clear it, "There's something different."

Vicki said, "Duh. Just because I can't see doesn't mean I've changed."

"Not you. The voices are gone." Stepping back off the porch he added, "I'm not attracted to you. I've got to get away from here and think."

"Wait. Why did you come in the first place?"

"Voices told me to come tonight and I waited until your lover left." He dragged his hands through his hair pulling at it. "The voices are telling me to do evil and Aunt Tri is trying to make the voices stop. She told me to stay away from you."

Henry's hand closed around Joshua's throat from behind. Shaking him like a dog worrying a rag Henry said, "You should have listened."

Vicki's head turned toward Henry's voice, "Don't hurt him. Wipe his mind and send him back to his Aunt."

Henry whispered into Joshua's ear and force marched him off the property sending him back to his aunt.

Vicki moved back into the house and waited for Henry before closing the door. "You weren't gone long enough to feed."

"Actually I was. I found a couple of guys fighting in the alley close to here. It was easy enough to control them, feed and get back."

"You didn't..."

"Of course not. But they'll wake up tomorrow thinking they beat the crap out of each other." He pulled her into his arms and said, "Let's go get comfortable so I can feed you and we can finally make love without interruption."

"That's the best idea I've heard in days."

Vicki licked the wound over Henry's heart as the blood flow slowed to single droplets. The vampire within her was content having been fed and rested without anger toward the vampire within Henry.

Henry lay back on the pillows gently stroking Vicki's head marveling at how his vampire that usually struggled to get away from Vicki and her vampire accepted her closeness and welcomed the sharing of its food. He prayed that a new bond was being forged that wouldn't be forced apart by the vampire's natural territorial instinct.

The last drop of blood was licked away as the wound closed. Vicki raised her head and smiled. "You taste better than ever. Love me Henry. Love me with the skill of five hundred years of practice."

Henry smiled and shift so that she was beneath him, "As you wish, my love."

_ "Earth, winter white rest. Water, spring green birth. Air, summer yellow grow. Fire, fall red consume. Spirit, white grateful. Points, pentagram power. Circle, black binding." Vicki started rolling the words around in her mind before her breathing or heart started for the night. "Despair to hope. Demon to God. Evil to good." She took her first breath as she sat up. Blinking, her vision had improved during her rest. Calling to her vampire she felt it stir but nothing more. Sighing she got up and went to the bathroom.

Henry felt her breathing and leave their bed, but it took him a few moments more before he too joined her in the night.

Vicki came out of the bathroom as he neared the door. They both tensed waiting for their vampires' reactions. When nothing happened Henry spoke first, "I don't think they mind being close to each other."

"I won't be sure until mine's fully back. But for now, she's quiet."

"Are you seeing better?"

"A bit. I can make out light and shadow. Standing close, I can see your face. Keep me pointed in the right direction and I'll get by."

"Want to go over the spell book again?"

"Sure. Listen to the words I've chosen. Make sure I've got the sounds perfect. You're sure I don't have to change anything when I string them together?"

"From what you were given, I'd say no you don't have to change a thing. Just say what you want in the order you want."

_(Author's note to reader: There may be a few more errors than normal this time around and I'm sorry for that. So far it's been a rough summer. I hope to have the conclusion to this story completed by the end of August barring any more interruptions. Please be patient and I'll get back to H / V soon. Thank you for reading. RealTears)_


	14. Chapter 14

The Bridge - Chapter 14

Joshua Bennett couldn't sleep. The voice in his head kept demanding Vicki was the one for him. He clutched the stone Aunt Tri had given him and the screaming voice dropped to a faint whisper. Giving up on sleep Joshua got up and went down stairs.

Aunt Tri looked up from the cup of tea she had been staring into as he came into the kitchen. "What's the matter, can't you sleep either?"

"Aunt Tri I know you said to trust you but I'm losing my mind. I behave like a stalker. I'm clutching a polished rock to keep from hearing a voice telling me to molest and rape a fellow police officer. What's wrong with me? Tell me the truth."

Aunt Tri slowly stood and rested a hand on his shoulder, "You wouldn't believe me if I told you. Trust me, it'll be over soon. I won't let you harm anyone and I won't let anything harm you. Stay home from work until this is over."

"I can't. Officer Nelson's on extended leave. I went to her house tonight and she's almost blind."

"You should stay away from her."

"I didn't mean anything by going over there. I just wanted to see for myself that she was telling the truth. The voice has me so mixed up about her."

"What happened?"

"I was talking to her and her friend Fitzroy showed up and that's all I can remember."

Aunt Tri firmly grabbed Joshua's head between both her hands and tilted it from side to side to check his neck. Satisfied that she didn't see any marks she let him go and told him to sit down while she fixed him a cup of tea to help him sleep.

Joshua sat and watched his many times great aunt mix leaves and make a tea that smelled of spring and honey. After drinking the brew Aunt Tri told him to go to bed. As he climbed the stairs she called out, "Get some rest before going to work." Under her breath she muttered, "You'll need it before the next time you get a chance to sleep."

Determined to have her part of the coming battle down pat, Vicki used every free moment to practice. As she was saying the phrases in her mind, she moved through several katas associated with martial arts. Muscles protested the routines she'd neglected for the last few years but she didn't stop. Her vampire kept her fit and strong without work, but without the vampire's added advantages she knew she had to rely on herself, so she practiced. As the words flowed, her body movements matched their meanings and the katas changed, becoming more intricate and more graceful. Her spells became both verbal and visual without conscious thought on her part.

Henry stood in the doorway watching Vicki and smiled. He'd watched her many times those first months after their initial meeting her without her knowledge. She moved with grace, efficiency and strength and that pleased his sense of style. It was one of the many things that had attracted him to her. She wasn't a weak woman that needed a man, she was a woman that was capable of taking care of herself and any man that was in her life was there because she wanted him there. Henry preened in the knowledge he was wanted by this remarkable woman.

Vicki stopped, leaned forward and put her hands on her knees to catch her breath. Henry cleared his throat to let her know he was in the room before moving forward.

"You want some water?"

"Yeah! Thanks." She dropped down to the floor and started massaging her leg muscles while he went to get a bottled water.

Opening it and placing it in her hand he said, "You're amazing to watch."

She took a long swallow then placed the cool bottle on her forehead. "It's been awhile since I did my routines. I'm out of practice and I won't let that happen again. I'm not going to rely on some vampire to protect me."

Henry knew she meant her vampire but couldn't help saying in an offended voice, "I beg your pardon, I'm not just some vampire."

She swatted the air in his general direction, "I didn't mean you. I meant mine. She's pretty much gone, but I'll be damned before I'm left defenseless."

After taking another sip of water she asked, "Why are you here? I thought we agreed to go over our roles in the coming battle alone."

"Tri called. We're running out of time. We have to feed well and rest. There's little time left to prepare."

"So? I'll continue practicing while you hunt."

"We're hunting together. I'll help you the way we did early on, find the donor, make the bite and control them while you feed."

"Great! Daddy vamp taking care of baby vamp."

"You've any better ideas?"

"Crap. You know I don't." Pushing herself up off the floor she added, "Let's get this over with."

It took a while to find the right place to feed, but the rest stop was ideal. There were people coming and going all the time. The natural park setting gave deep shadows and it was easy to lure prey to a secluded spot, feed and send them back to their vehicles with the idea that a nap and a big bottle of orange juice was just the thing to do before continuing their journeys.

Comfortably full, they went back to their individual houses and worked quietly on their spells until dawn.

After his shift, Joshua found himself sitting at the local bar nursing a bottle of beer and a lot of anger. Chaotic thoughts rolled around in his head. Vicki's absence had been the topic of conversation during his shift. He'd been blamed for harassing her and making her quit. It didn't matter that she was blind, she'd be there if he hadn't made her life miserable. The cruiser smelled of vomit and crap and it was his fault because he couldn't clean it the way she did. The cop that replaced her was now complaining that he needed back-up and Joshua was going to be it. One way or another Vicki was still the focus of all his thoughts. Disgusted with everything he dropped the stupid rock he'd been holding onto the table and the voice told him his life would be perfect if she were gone. Whispering in his head it said, "_If you can't have her as a lover, and she was causing problems the simple solution was to eliminate her. All you have to do is listen to my instructions and a demon will take her. You will have everything you want."_ He got up from the table paid the tab and left. The shiny stone he'd been holding was left behind, forgotten.

The bartender picked up the money, clean the bar and dropped the stone into the trash.

Aunt Tri felt the ripple in her magic web as the stone she'd given to Joshua was touched by another. Its power to protect was drained and she knew Joshua was at the mercy of the voice.

Listening to the voice Joshua found a group of kids setting up a picnic and camp fire. In a few hours it would be dark and this would be a perfect event to pull Vicki out of the safety of her house. Even though she was on a leave of absence, Joshua knew if Vicki were called to help a bunch of kids she'd go.

With the setting of the sun three things happened at the same time. A campfire was lit, two vampires woke up and Joshua, listening to the voice in his head, said the words to summon a demon.

One young girl hid behind some rocks in the park as friends used drugs and alcohol to get in the party mood. Soon they ripped at their clothes, shout obscenities and began to dance around the fire. Lee Ann kept trying to use her cell phone only to have it drop calls. Finally she pulled out a ragged business card that she'd carried in her pocket for months, she whispered into the phone, "Officer Nelson, I need help."

Vicki growled into the phone, "Why haven't you called 911?"

Sobbing into the phone she said, "Yours is the only number that works. Please come. It's getting bad. They're doing stuff to each other."

"Keep hiding. I'll be there as quickly as I can."

Vicki placed a call to Henry telling him to come get her, "It's starting."

Vicki was standing in the driveway as he pulled up, leaned over and opened the door for her. Reaching at the door she felt his hand as he leaned even farther to pull her in.

"Where to?"

"The park near our bridge."

He called Tri and gave her the location and waited for Vicki to fill in the rest.

"I got a call from one of the kids I helped along the way. I told her to call me if she had any trouble."

"You know better than to give out your off duty cell phone number."

"I know, but I didn't have the police issue phone yet. Anyway I thought she'd lose my number by now."

"What we're facing?"

"A teenage party gone bad. Drugs, drinking, satanic dancing and chanting. It's bad enough to mess with me, but why kids?"

"You know why. Evil exists to destroy hope and the young are the world's hope."

Tri, Henry and Vicki stood on the bridge and discussed their final plans. They could hear the kids in the distance laughing and shouting. An occasional scream of pain was followed by cheers and jeers as the kids continued to work themselves into a frenzy.

Depending on the reactions of the demons plans would be adjusted as necessary. They could only hope they had considered all the variables. Each had to move to their agreed upon positions before beginning the attack. Henry led Vicki to the most direct path to the fire pit and asked her to wait until the count of two hundred before walking straight ahead. When she could see the glow of the fire she was to start talking.

Vicki strolled toward the fire and shouted, "Hey! can anyone join this party?" Caught up in the demon's workings, the kids ignored her words and danced in an even more frenzied pace.

Joshua stood at the edge of the ring of dancing kids frozen in horror as he realized he was responsible for calling up the demon goading them on. Henry came up behind Joshua, hit him on the head, caught him as he dropped and hid him behind a large tree. Satisfied, Henry nodded to Tri and started drawing symbols in the dirt with the tip of a dagger.

Tri, standing to the far side of the fire pit after working her way around in the dark, sighed when she saw Henry hit Joshua but felt some comfort in how gently Henry caught him and placed him behind the tree. Tri opened a pouch containing herbs and sea salt throwing them into the fire. The flash of light startled the kids causing them to breath in the yellow green smoke. They all fell to the ground in a deep sleep.

The demon took shape in front of Vicki looked her up and down before saying, "You're not so special, but my master said if I brought your soul to him I'd have free reign in this town. "

"Not that easy. In case you haven't noticed your surrounded and there's no one to help you."

The demon made a summoning gesture only to see the youth were on the ground not moving. As he grew larger and said, "I'm not that easy to get rid of," all hell broke lose.

Henry saw what appeared in front of Vicki as a rift in the earth opened behind her. Henry forgot about his spells, ran forward and pushed Vicki away from the grasping arms of the demon. The demon's arms closed around Henry's spirit as it stepped into the rift leaving Henry's empty body behind.

The demon was gone. Josh woke up and called 911 and back-up for a teenage party out of control.

In the confusion Vicki helped Tri carry Henry's body to Tri's car then Tri helped Vicki carry him to Vicki's house.

Alone, she moved Henry to her bed straightened his arms and legs, smoothed his hair and loosened his clothing. She hadn't really noticed in a long time how physically small he really was. He was a bit shorter than she, slight in body mass but well proportioned. Numb in mind and spirit she laid down beside him, closed her eyes and waited for dawn.

Waking to the setting sun Vicki remembered being pushed away as Henry said, "Don't give up on me." Then she remembered seeing Henry lying limp at her feet, and Tri and her moving him to the car as sirens shrilly screamed in the distance.

Vicki picked up her cell phone and called Tri, "What went wrong?"

"I'm not sure but the demon is gone. The kids are dazed and confused but otherwise unharmed. Joshua is being given credit for stopping them before they hurt themselves or others. How's Henry?"

"His body is with me but all."

"What are you going to do?"

Vicki mumbled, "I'm not sure, but I'll think of something." And broke the connection. She turned to the cold lifeless form of Henry and tried to figure out what to do next. She lost track of time and was startled to hear a familiar voice calling for her and pounding on the front door. She stood up leaned down and kissed Henry's cold lips.

Standing with her hands balled into fists trying to pull up her vampire's rage she called out, "What do you want?"

The voice said, "Can I come in?"

The vampire's anger wouldn't come so Vicki answered, "No. Stand back and I'll come out." When she opened the door and stepped out, she could make out an old woman's sagging wrinkled cheeks and stooped shoulders. Frowning she asked, "Tri? Is that you?"

"The magic is fading and so am I. Did you get your vampire back?"

Vicki shook her head, "Nothing's changed since you took it from me."

"That's not right. It should have come back to you the second the demon left. Are you sure?"

"As sure as I can be of anything."

The old woman shrank into herself, "What have I done?"

"How should I know?"

"How will you survive? How will you feed?"

Starting to step back inside Vicki said, "I don't know. I'll get by. Go home and take care of yourself."

Tri pulled the remnants of her power to her, straightened and said, "I'm not leaving." She pushed her way past Vicki and entered the house. With the air of authority she said, "Let's finish this."

Vicki closed the door and turned toward the sound of her unwelcome guest. "How?"

"Let me see Henry."

Left without any options, Vicki shrugged, went to the back of the house and opened her bedroom door.

Tri followed making note of how Vicki's house reflected it's owner, interesting objects, randomly placed full of color with multiple uses. One or two of the wall hangings appeared to be Henry's work. Tri wished she had time to look more closely into what made up Vicki. But she needed to see Henry and perhaps find a way to bring back at least one vampire.

Henry's spirit resisted the attempts of the demon to control it. Screeching, the demon said, "I, Astaroth, claim you at last vampire." The part of Henry that held what remained of his human soul withdrew leaving his vampire to continue the struggle. "You've fallen into my realm. The stupid demon that started this round didn't know what it had touched and is gone by my will. It was nothing to take you from him. I will have you and you will do my bidding." Henry's human spirit did the only thing left to it and prayed. However neither was aware of another presence lingering close to Henry's spirit.

Tri touched Henry's cheek and fingered a curl that lay across his forehead. Talking more to herself than Vicki she said, "You've changed along the way my Prince. You were bored with your father's antics and the duties required of a royal. You were tired of dancing to his tune but there was no way out for you until you met Christina. I'm not sure she did you any favors, but because of her you were there to help me when I needed it. Now it's time for me to help you." Turning around and facing Vicki she asked, "How much do you love him?"

"How much is enough?"

"Your life."

With a wave of her, Vicki said, "He already has that."

Exasperated Tri said, "Your existence then."

"My existence isn't much without him or the rest of my vampire." Vicki sat on the other side of the bed and straightened the collar of Henry's shirt. "What do you want me do?"

"Henry had you look within yourself to get the name of a demon. You need to do it again. This time go deeper and do what's necessary."

"And how do you propose I do that and what do you mean by do what's necessary?"

"I'll guide you into a trance and you'll know what to do when you get there."

Tri instructed Vicki to lay down head to toe beside Henry and place her hand under his. Tri stood at the foot of the bed and placed her hands on either side of Vicki's head.

"Close your eyes. Think of the demon you saw, call to it and let it pull you forward."

Vicki didn't want to call demons to her and she most certainly didn't want to go where they hid, but she knew Henry would do nothing less for her so she listened to Tri.

" Alsastaarith. Where are you? You wanted me. Here I am." She kept repeating that over and over in her mind as she drifted deeper and deeper into the dark realm. She heard the moans of pain and the pleas for help but she didn't hear an answer to her call. She felt searing pain in one arm and numbing cold aching in the other. She wanted to turn and run back the way she came, but she wanted Henry more so she kept moving further into the darkness. Ahead she saw what looked like a discarded pile of smoking rags and made to drift on by when she heard the whisper. "You've come to me too late."

"Henry?"

" Alsastaarith."

"What's happened to you?"

"Astaroth. He took what was mine and left me thus."

"I don't usually make deals with demons but if you show me the way you can have what's left after I'm done."

"It will be enough."

The smoking pile of rags pulled up and started moving with Vicki's spirit close behind. After what seem like hours the pile settled to the floor and Vicki saw Astaroth twisting and fighting, growling and gnashing teeth at an invisible foe. She could hear it saying over and over, "_You're mine_." Vicki couldn't see what it was fighting but she felt Henry's spirit close. She concentrated on the love she felt for him and her spirit met his. At the same time the essence that was left of her vampire joined the part that had been taken from her earlier by Tri. Now there was a second vampire in the chamber that Astaroth wasn't aware of. Vicki's vampire joined Henry and Vicki's spirit. The **Whole** became stronger than sum of its parts and took on the human form of Vicki.

Vicki began to move in a martial arts kata routine and said the words that matched her movements. Astaroth became transfixed watching the movements and released its hold on Henry's vampire which moved to join the **Whole** and his power was added to the magic.

Astaroth roared out its anger when it realized it lost hold of the vampire. It saw the marks on Vicki's arms. "You're mine. You were dedicated to me by that useless human. You accepted me when I gave you the power to put your friend's heart back." [_See BT episode Deep Dark_]

Vicki shook her head, "Nope. Didn't accept you. Used you, maybe, but never accepted you." Vicki moved faster and faster calling out her spells. Then her voice and form changed.

Astaroth fell back as Henry shouted out his words of power causing a bright flash of light and the **Whole** flew up and away knowing that it could not kill a demon in its own realm but that it could blind and confuse it long enough to escape.

As the **Whole **moved out of the realm it could hear the two demons tearing at each other.

Vicki and Henry lay side by side, head to toe. His hand over hers where their bodies touched.

The room began to tremble and continued trembling for almost thirty seconds before the movements stopped. Slowly the **Whole **separated. Spirits and vampires settled into the bodies and as one they opened their eyes and said, "Earthquake."

Vicki thought of Tri and moved to sit on the edge of her side of the bed and looked for the old woman. There was a fine gray dust at the foot of the bed and on the floor but nothing else was to be seen.

Henry sat up shift about so that he was on the same side of the bed and settled his feet beside Vicki's taking her hand in his.

The earthquake did little damage in either small city but the old bridge that connected them for over a hundred had been leveled along with the support pilings and Henry's hidden sanctuary.

Vicki and Henry stood at the edge of the ravine staring at the pile of rubble that had been the bridge between their territories. Sighing as one they turned their backs on the ravine and walked to their own cars.

Over the tops of the cars they grinned and said as one, "See you in Vancouver."

"Don't do anything stupid along the way."

"How can I when you're with me all the time?"

"Do you think our spirits and vampires will ever get untangled?"

"I hope not."

"Me too."

Henry liked his new penthouse condo in Vancouver. He'd been there for almost a year and found that he could live the life he loved without calling attention to himself. His graphic novels were selling and he could barely keep up with demand for more. He put the finishing touches on the latest illustration, cleaned his pen and put it back in the holder. Pushing back from the drafting table he smiled as he looked around saluted his father's picture and picked up his travel bag.

The townhouse suited Vicki's needs to a tee. She had a below ground apartment and a detective business on the first level. The top floor was rented to a human that worked for her agency and seemed oblivious to his employer's erratic lifestyle. She stamped closed on a file and dropped it on her assistant's desk with instructions for the next two weeks before heading out for her long anticipated holiday.

The rental agent checked to make sure the cabin had been cleaned and stocked. She was pleased to have one more reservation. It was a little unusual to have a renters use this cabin a month after the summer season ended. The client insisted that it wasn't the swimming and hiking that interested him but rather the sounds and smells of the mountains getting ready for the winter to come. He also indicated that if things worked out as he hoped, he'd be renting it again from the first of December to the end of January. Again the rental agent shook her head and thought about all the fun she was going to have with the extra income.


End file.
